The New Kids
by nixglen
Summary: AU:The new kids are coming. Merlin visits Hogwarts to start preparations for the new kids. He also instructs Snape that he is to adopt Harry Potter immediately! What changes? How will Snape respond? Read and find out.
1. Prelude

December 3, 1981

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does

Thanks to my awesome beta Angel Author14. Thanks also to Teddylonglong who told me I could do this.

Prelude

December 3, 1981

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was tired. He had not been able to rest since the terrible events that had unfolded in Godrics Hollow that had resulted in the deaths of two of his favorite students and the incarceration of another. The third former student, Peter Pettigrew, who had died that terrible night, had never been one of his favorites but he felt bad for him too.

He was also having regrets over the fact that he had left an innocent baby with muggles who he knew would never love him the way he deserved to be loved. He felt strongly though that this was the best, no, the only way to keep young Harry Potter safe. The blood wards that living with his relatives provided were the only ones strong enough to keep the infant safe from the newest and worst dark wizard in history. Still, he felt guilt for leaving the child there. James & Lily Potter had made him promise to never leave him with the Lily's sister Petunia, but the Dursleys were all that were left due to the fact that Sirius Black was in Azakaban. Remus Lupin would have been his next choice if it were not for the archaic laws that made the fact that Remus was a werewolf disqualify him as guardian for the child.

Suddenly, as Albus was thinking about all of this, his phoenix Fawkes burst into song. Albus had heard Fawkes trill and sometimes even sing, but never like this. This was glorious; the song filled the room with joy. As he was listening, enthralled, to this wonderful music Albus noticed that there was a bright blue shimmer in the air. Then, while he was adjusting his senses to these strange occurances a figure appeared in front of him. At first it was just a mist, but in a moment it solidified into the shape of a very old wizard wearing splendid purple robes with gold symbols embroidered all over them.

As Albus sat with his mouth open the wizard spoke "Hello Albus, I've been waiting many long years to make this visit to you. I am Merlin and we have some extremely serious things to discuss." Albus, who already had already realized the identity of his visitor was overwhelmed with gratitude that he had been given the opportunity to meet this great wizard who so many thought to be just a legend, so he was more than happy to discuss anything with him. "Merlin, what a wonderful surprise, would you like a lemon drop?" he greeted him.

Merlin accepted the lemon drop and the offer of tea. When they were seated comfortably Merlin asked Dumbledore to call Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall to attend this meeting. They were duly called and after they had been introduced and recovered from the shock of meeting the legendary Merlin he got down to business.

"Young Harry Potter is the first order of business," he said. "Albus, I know the reasons for you placing him with his relatives, but this is not acceptable. He is already being neglected and abused and we cannot and will not let this continue."

Minerva, hearing this, nodded her head. She had begged Albus not to send him to his relatives and had even begged to raise him herself. She knew that the wards were important but she also knew that those horrible people would not take care of Harry properly much less love him. She remembered Petunia and her husband from the one time she met them and knew that they hated magic and everyone connected to the magical world.

Merlin continued, "Albus I know too that you feel being raised in the Wizarding world would be bad for young Mr. Potter because of his fame. You are afraid that the adulation will go to his head and make him think that he doesn't have to follow rules. You are afraid that everyone in the magical world will spoil him rotten and make him arrogant and boastful and impossible to control. This is the reason I have asked for Professor Snape to be here."

Upon hearing this Severus looked apprehensive, what in the world did all of this have to do with him?

Merlin, seeing the look on his face, gave a small chuckle. "Severus, I know that you have been a spy for the order. You have done a wonderful job supplying information about the Dark Lord and his followers, but we have a much more important role for you to play in this war. We want you to adopt young Harry Potter."

Severus stood straight up with a look of horror on his face, "Merlin" he shouted, "I cannot take charge of the child, he is James Potter's son!! He will have his fathers characteristics and I will not abide Potter's child in my home!!"

Merlin, knowing this would be the reaction he would receive just gave Severus a smile.

"No, he said. You are the one who will be able to raise him and keep him grounded in the real world. He will learn the lessons he needs to learn with you and even though I never tell anyone what the future holds for them I assure you that in a very short time you are going to grow to love the child with all of your being. I know how much you loved Lily Potter and you will see her instead of his father when you look at the child. Trust me, you are the perfect one for this job. This will be as beneficial for you as it is for Harry. We are not really giving you choices in this matter. The entire council, which I will tell you about later, has made the decision and Fate has wholeheartedly agreed to it too. I cannot explain everything to you now, but Lily will help you with her son."

"Now, to the next part of the business I need to discuss with you. Starting last year very special children are being been born into this world. They are not the first of their kind, but there have never been as many. They will continue to come and one day the world will change because if them. Some are muggles, some are muggle born and some are witches and wizards. These children will have special powers; they will need special education and special care to realize their full potential. In the muggle world some of these children will be misdiagnosed, as ADHD and some will even be diagnosed to be Autistic. This will not be the case. Unfortunately, some may grow up and never realize who and what they are. We cannot let this happen to the children that we care for. As I said, these children are special; the muggle world will call them Indigos, as they will have a very bright indigo aura. They will not learn well in a structured environment, so we need to make some changes to Hogwarts."

At this Albus spoke, "what types of changes are necessary? The Ministry will give us a bad time about changing very much about this school you know. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic tries to run it as it is."

Merlin, chuckling replied "don't worry about Fudge, or the ministry. We will handle them. We have ten years to get ready as that is when these children will start coming to the school. You need to have a house for them, and a new wing on the school for them. You need to find teachers who will be able to work with these children and they will need special training. They need to be educated in psychology and in the teaching of special needs children. You need to start working on this quickly, it will take every bit of the ten years to get this pulled together."

" But first and foremost is getting Harry out of the home of those terrible muggles. Professor I want you to create accommodations for the child in your quarters immediately and I want him out of that house tonight at the very latest. We have provided a house elf to be nanny for Harry, she will be devoted to him and can be trusted to protect and care for him when you are in class, or otherwise occupied. Now please extend you left arm."

Snape extended his arm and Merlin pushed up his sleeve exposing the dark mark. He waved his hand over the mark and recited an incantation and the mark faded and then disappeared.

Snape sat, absolutely stunned, he was so ashamed of that mark and had resigned himself to the fact that the terrible mark of shame would be with him forever.

"Thank you Merlin," he said. "I will do everything within my power to raise the child as he should be raised, and I will try to get over the fact that his father was an insufferable prat."

Merlin smiled, nodded his head and after assuring them that he would be visiting them on a regular basis for the next ten years to help them with their endeavors, said goodbye to the stunned group he disappeared with a pop.


	2. Chapter 1: Coming Home

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter world, but it sure would be nice

Many thanks to Angelauthor14, my awesome beta. Thanks too, to Teddylonglong, who told me I could do this.

Coming Home

Dumbledore's office was totally silent. Albus, Severus, and Minerva just looked at each other. Suddenly Severus shoved his sleeve up to see if the ugly mark was really gone or if he had imagined the whole thing but no, the mark was really gone.

He looked at Dumbledore and said "Albus, what have I agreed to do? I can't adopt Harry Potter! Merlin must be suffering from dementia! And exactly what did he mean when he said Lily would be around to help me? You know that is impossible!"

Seeing that Severus was beginning to get hysterical Dumbledore waved his wand and a pot of tea appeared along with a plate of biscuits.

He looked at Snape and with a twinkle in his blue eyes he said, "I would imagine that he meant exactly what he said and Lily will be around to help you. I don't know how, but I believe that Merlin and this council he was talking about have the situation all planned out and under control."

He turned to Minerva and smiled when he saw that she still looked confounded.

"Minnie, wake up!" he laughed. "We have a lot of work to do before we go to collect young Mr. Potter."

Minerva sent him a withering glare, but she collected her wits and nodded. "Yes," she said, "I will pop over to Diagon Alley to buy the things Severus is going to need for the baby while you two get his accommodations taken care of."

Severus walked into his quarters in the dungeons with Albus right behind him. The apartment was spacious with light walls and a plush, dark green carpet throughout. Of course the apartment was underground but there were large magical windows that were spelled with the same sort of charm that was used on the ceiling in the great hall. The windows had views of both the black lake and the forbidden forest.

The two wizards spoke an incantation in Latin and a new door appeared in the wall right beside Snape's bedroom door. When they walked into the room Albus looked around and waved his wand. The walls became a light blue with white trim and with second wave of his wand another window appeared. Snape, in the meantime, had been looking around thinking about decorations that a one-year-old boy would like. When he had finished waving his wand around there were pictures of Disney characters on the walls and a dark blue carpet on the floor. He waved his wand again and another door appeared in one of the walls.

"I'm going to fix a room for the house elf that Merlin said would be coming to take care of Harry," he said.

The room was small and had a small bed, a small rocking chair, and a small dresser with a mirror. They were admiring their handiwork when they heard a pop. Hurrying back into Harry's room they saw a small house elf.

Albus smiled and said "hello there. I am Headmaster Dumbledore and this is Professor Snape and you must be the one Merlin said would be coming to join us."

"Yes sir," said the small creature. "I is Daisy Headmaster Dumblydore. I is being Master Harry Potter's nanny."

Snape wasn't really listening to this exchange. He was still having a hard time comprehending all of this. He had never considered getting married, not since Lily had married that insufferable Potter. He certainly had no wish to be a father, certainly not to Potter's child. And now his private space was going to be shared with a one-year-old Potter and a house elf, and a female at that.

He turned to the little one and said "I expect you to take care of the child and keep him out of my way. I'm not going to coddle the child and neither are you. Is that understood?"

When Daisy looked at him with her ears flat against her head and squeaked out a "yes sir Master Professor sir" he opened the door to the small room and told her that this was her room.

Daisy walked into the room and promptly burst into tears. She turned around and wrapped her arms around his knees and looked up at him as if he were the most wonderful person in the world.

"Oh Master! This cannot be for Daisy. Daisy is just an unworthy house elf, she doesn't deserve this beautiful room sir!"

Snape looked down his nose and said, "kindly let go of me. I provided this room for you so that you will be close to the baby at all times. As I told you, I have no desire to be bothered by a child screaming in the middle of the night."

While all of this was going on Minerva was having the time of her life. She was all over Diagon Alley with a huge smile of her face. She had begged to be allowed to raise Harry instead of sending him to live with the muggles and had been very upset when she couldn't. Now she knew she would be a part of the child's life. She had loved Lily beyond reason. She loved James too, but he was constantly aggravating her and everyone else with the pranks he and his friends played all of the time. Many of the pranks had been directed at her and sometimes she was tempted to just smack all four of them. Fortunately for the Marauders, smacking a student was something she just was not capable of.

She had already found a crib, and a dresser for the baby along with all of the sheets and blankets that would be needed. The blankets were soft, fluffy, and in a rainbow of pastel colours. At Madam Malkin's she had found all of the baby clothes that the baby would need. She bought diapers, sleepers, and onesies, and little gowns, sweaters, crawlers, socks, shoes, diaper shirts, some t-shirts, small trousers and even a few robes.

Saving the best for last Minerva entered the toy store. Knowing that the toys Harry's parents had given him were lost or destroyed she proceeded to have a ball buying toys for a little boy. She bought balls, and stuffed dragons, and tigers, and lions. She bought an armful of magical books, the characters told the stories aloud so the child could learn what the words looked like in addition to looking at the pictures. Her favourite purchase was a gold & silver mobile for the crib. It played a wizard lullaby and had small magical creatures flying around the crib. She was tired, but what a wonderful day!

Arriving back at the castle she headed straight for Snape's quarters. After she showed off all of her purchases and put everything away Albus announced that it was time to go bring Harry home. They went to the fireplace in Snape's living room and flooed directly to Arabella Figg's house on Privet Drive in Little Whinging. After explaining to Arabella that Harry was going to be adopted by Snape, who shuddered when Albus announced this, they left and walked to Number four.

The trio stood in front of the door and, not knowing about doorbells, knocked on it. A large fat man opened the door with an unpleasant scowl on his face.

"What are you people doing here? We don't want your kind here, get off of my doorstep," he thundered.

Dumbledore flicked his wand and the man flew back against the wall. He led Snape and Minerva into the house saying, "Mr. Dursley, surely you don't want your neighbours to see us talking to you? Let us go into the parlour and talk for a few minutes."

Speechless, Vernon led them into the parlour where his wife, Petunia was watching television and a large unattractive baby was stuffing cookies into his mouth as fast as he could. They could see pictures of the child, Dudley, all around the room, but not one of Harry. There was a large pile of toys in the playpen with him but he was too busy eating to worry about toys.

Albus looked around the room and asked the whereabouts of Harry Potter. Vernon snarled,

"The brat is in his room, that's where. He hit our precious Duddikins with a toy truck so I punished him and put him to bed."

The old wizard looked at him, with no twinkle in his blue eyes and said "Harry will be going back to Hogwarts with us tonight. Professor Snape here is going to adopt him. Would you be so kind to get his toys and clothes together while we go get the child?"

Vernon looked surprised, "Toys? The freak doesn't have any toys, and he has the pyjamas he was wearing when he arrived on our doorstep. It's bad enough that we were saddled with him, but we're certainly not going to spend our hard earned money on one of his kind!"

Before Minerva could hex the arrogant idiot Albus thundered, "your hard earned money? You have been given an extremely generous stipend to provide for the child's needs with plenty added for your trouble. What do you mean your hard earned money? Take us to the child immediately or you will find out exactly what _our kind_ can do when we are angry!!"

Looking fearful Petunia stood up and said, "I will take you. Harry sleeps right here in the cupboard under the stairs."

She nervously opened the door and stood back. Dumbledore and Snape had to bend over to look into the small, dark space. There, on a small cot, laid a beautiful baby boy. He had unruly black hair but his most striking feature was the brilliant green of his eyes. Snape's eyes were immediately drawn to the unusual scar on his forehead, which was left by a dark wizard's killing curse.

The baby was filthy and his little face was tear streaked. Minerva bent down to look when the two wizards stood up and sobbed out loud.

"How could you treat your own nephew like this" she asked Petunia. "His mother was your sister, how could you do this?"

Petunia was intelligent enough to know that she was on very dangerous ground. She didn't answer; she just looked down at the floor. Minerva conjured a baby blanket and wrapped the baby up gently before picking him up and drawing him close to herself.

"You will never get a chance to hurt or neglect this boy again you despicable person" she promised the wretched woman.

Albus produced a document and, containing his anger, instructed both of the Dursleys to sign it.

"You have just signed away all rights to Harry James Potter" he said "and you have also given Severus Snape permission to adopt him. You are very lucky that we are not calling the authorities about the way you have neglected this child, as a matter of fact the Ministry may decide to contact them anyway. Since you have been so unloving towards Harry, and because you have been so greedy with the money that was provided for his care I take great pleasure to inform you that Harry is the heir to one of the largest inheritances in the Wizarding world. I am sure that had you loved him, as you should have he would have shared all of it with you. I'm very glad that I decided not to inform you of this before I found out how you have treated him. I promise you that if you try to do anything to interrupt this adoption you will regret it. Whatever efforts you made would not only be unsuccessful, but would be enough for me to call the child protection services about his treatment myself."

The three wizards turned around and left the house with young Harry Potter, leaving Vernon and Petunia Dursley with their mouths hanging open.

A short time later three people, one carrying a small boy appeared in front of the gates of Hogwarts. Harry Potter had come home.

A/N I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I didn't really write it, it just kind of took me where it wanted to go. Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 2: Father & Son

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter world I just wish I did.

Many thanks to Angelauthor14, my awesome beta.

Father & Son

Entering the school the three wizards did not even glance around at the beautiful entrance hall. Dumbledore headed to his office, explaining that he needed to get the docment to the Ministry immediately. Severus and Minerva continued with Harry to the apartment in the dungeons. Entering the apartment they headed directly to the nursery. Daisy meanwhile, seeing the absence of a changing table and rocking chair for the baby had procured both, for which Severus was extremely thankful.

While Severus was looking at the chair and the changing table Minerva was unwrapping the baby, after laying him on the table. Severus heard a gasp from the older witch.

"Severus, come look at this child! Oh, the poor little boy!! How could anyone let any child get in this condition, especially their own nephew?"

Seeing that his friend was almost in tears Severus crossed the room with long strides and stopped in his tracks when he saw his new son. The baby was wearing the pajamas he had been wearing when he was left at the house on Privit Drive. They looked as if they had not been changed or laundered in the whole time he had been in the Dursley home. He was filthy and so thin that his little ribs could be counted just by looking at him. The baby didn't cry, he looked up at the strange man with so much sorrow in his green eyes that Minerva and Severus both were close to breaking down.

Severus put his hand on the boy's head and said "Minnie, he has a small fever. Please watch him for me long enough for me to go get some potions for him."

While he was gone Daisy, who had appeared from the kitchen, where she had gone to prepare some bottles for the child, took the filthy pajamas and diaper off of him.

"Oh goodness!!" she exclaimed. "This poor baby has got the worst diaper rash I be ever seeing. "Oh, my poor little Master!! Daisy is going to be caring for you, you is going to be happy and fat before I is done with you my precious one."

Upon returning Severus spooned some of the fever-reducing potion into the child. Having done this he proceeded to wave his wand up and down the thin little body.

"He doesn't appear to be in any danger or have any long lasting effects from his ordeal thank Merlin," he told the witch and elf who were holding their breath waiting for the results of the scan. "He is terribly malnourished, dehydrated, and has a nasty infection from that diaper rash. It's good that we intervened when we did or I doubt the outcome would be the same, his body would not have been able to survive the deprivation for much longer. Daisy, I brought this ointment for his rash, I thought he would have one when I saw the condition he was in. Please apply it after his bath and every time you change his diaper until it is healed."

Minerva just could not hold it in any longer. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she cried out "WHY, why did Albus insist on taking Harry to those terrible muggles? I tried to make him realize that he was making a mistake, but he wouldn't listen to me. And now, just look how much this child has suffered."

"Albus was doing what he thought he had to do Minerva," said Severus. "He was wrong and he knows that and he has to live with it. Don't blame the wrong person, you and I both know that the blame goes all the way back to Voldemort. Our Headmaster was desperate to insure that Harry was in the safest possible place, and the fact that Petunia was related by blood convinced him to place him with the Dursleys. He was aware that Lily's sister and her husband did not like magic or anyone associated with it but he never dreamed that Petunia would harm the boy."

While the two professors were engrossed in their conversation Daisy had been busy with her young charge. She had given him his bath, which appeared to be the first one he had been given for a very long time. She was so upset about the neglect this child had suffered that her ears were flat against her head when she brought him back to the nursery wrapped in a fluffy blue towel.

Severus left the room to prepare a meal for the starved child while Daisy got him dressed. As soon as the house elf was done Minerva picked him up and hugged him. She breathed in the baby scent and smiled.

"Now that you are all clean young man, are you ready to eat," she asked him with a smile.

Harry just looked at her with big eyes and a solemn expression on his little face. He had not been hugged, or held, or cuddled since the night the bad man had come to his home and hurt his Mama and his Dad. Remembering his parents made him sad. Big tears started rolling down his face, but he did not make a sound. He did not know where his Mommy was because right after the bad man left the big man came and took him away. He had left him with the mean people. Uncle Moony and Uncle Padfoot had not come to see him either. He kept waiting for someone to come take him back to his mommy but no one ever did. Then these people came to get him, but they didn't take him to his mommy either. He did not know where he was, or who these people were and he was so afraid!

These thoughts made the tears keep coming and he couldn't stop, even though he knew that people did not like little boys who cried. He knew that little boys who cried were put in the cupboard and left there by themselves in the dark where the spiders lived, but he just could not stop.

Stepping back into the room Severus found Minerva rocking the baby and both of them head tears streaming down their faces. Severus bent over to take Harry and immediately the child flinched.

"Why child, you are afraid of me!" he exclaimed.

After transforming a toy building block into another rocking chair Snape took the child and sat down with him in his lap. He sat there for several minutes silently holding the little boy while gently rubbing his back. He was silent for a long time because he was almost in shock. Where were these feelings he was having coming from? He wasn't supposed to be experiencing feelings like this! He could actually feel it and he wasn't sure he liked it. He looked down at Harry, who was quiet now. The baby looked back up at him with those eyes and he felt it again.

It felt as if something was tugging at his heart. Snape's heart had been encased in ice almost all of his life. Whenever his father hit his mother or beat him the ice grew a little thicker and a little colder. It had to be that way, because if he reacted or tried to stop his father, it just became worse for this mom and for him. Severus didn't realize that the feeling was the ice beginning to melt, he just knew that something was different now.

"Hush Harry, it is going to be all right. No one is going to hurt you because I am not going to let them. You are my little boy now and I will take care of you. You are going to live here with me and Daisy is going to take care of you. Don't be afraid anymore, you are safe here with us."

Minerva observing all of this was sitting there with her jaw dropped. Where was Severus? Who was this man holding Harry and crooning to him? This could not be Severus Snape, the terror of the dungeons! As she watched she realized that this was indeed Severus Snape. Maybe Merlin was right, maybe Severus was the one who should raise Harry. Harry was considered the saviour of the wizarding world and Minerva was beginning to believe that the child was going to be Severus Snape's saviour as well.

They took Harry to the kitchen and seated him in a brand new high chair. Severus set a bowl of oatmeal in front of him and put brown sugar and milk over it, Harry needed good food and lots of nutrients. After looking at the cereal for a long time Harry began to realize that this was really for him. His mommy had taught him to feed himself and this looked so good, but Uncle Vernon said that they could not afford to feed him all that food. They gave him the food that was left after Dudley had eaten, and that was usually just a couple of spoons full. Timidly he reached out and picked up the spoon and when he realized that no one was going to smack him he proceeded to begin to eat.

Severus watched him carefully and realized that he was obviously afraid to eat. This fact made him so angry that he almost lost control, but knowing that this would frighten the little boy more than he already was, he managed to control the anger. Minerva had the same reaction and managed to control her anger too, but fearing that she would not be able to contain it very much longer she stood and said goodnight to father and son.

Harry had finished eating and his little eyes were beginning to droop. Severus carried him back into the nursery and sat with him in the rocking chair again. He sat and rocked the child, holding him close until he saw the baby's eyeslids close and he dropped off to sleep. He put him in his crib, covered him with a soft blanket and called Daisy. She appeared with a pop and Severus took himself off to bed too, it had been a very long and confusing day.

Severus awoke with a start! Jumping out of bed he ran to the nursery, something was wrong, he just knew it!

Harry was lying silently in his crib with big tears rolling silently down his face again. He had awakened and it was dark and he didn't know where he was. He knew he was alone, and he knew that he could not call for anyone because little boys who wake grown up people in the middle of the night had to be punished. He did not want to be put into a cupboard so he cried silently. Seeing that Harry was distressed he picked him up and held him close. He sat and rocked with him for a while but Harry refused to let himself go back to sleep. He did not want to wake up alone anymore. Finally Severus looked down at him and seeing the big green eyes looking back at him, he sighed.

"Harry, would you like to come sleep with me tonight?" he asked?

Harry nodded his head and burrowed into this nice man's chest. So Severus took Harry and went back to his own room. He put the baby into the bed and climbed in himself. He waved his hand and the lights went out. Feeling the little body next to him stiffen up he waved his hand again and a very small night light appeared in the air on Harry's side of the bed. The baby immediately relaxed and father & son went to sleep.

A/N Boy Severus is going to regret all of those rocking chairs! He will be rocking that baby for a long time - LOL.  
Please review


	4. Chapter 3: Where is Dobby?

Disclaimer: I just wish I owned Harry Potter's world

Thanks go to Angelauthor14, she is a huge help to me, I couldn't do it without her

Where is Dobby?

The next morning Severus was sitting in his office, trying to catch up some of his neglected paperwork. Albus knocked on the open door and walked in with some official looking documents in his hand.

"Good morning Severus" he said with the famous Dumbledore twinkle in his eyes. "How did your first night with your new son go? I trust everything went smoothly."

Snape shook his head and sighed."Albus, I just don't know. This scares me more than going to the Dark Lord when he summons me. Harry is afraid of everything. Poor boy can't help it, but I don't know if I am the right one to help him."

"Severus, of course you are. You are really the only option. You live most of the year here in Hogwarts where he will be safe, you know more about what Voldemort is capable of doing than anyone else alive and you certainly know what it is like to be alone."

Snape sighed again."Albus, the child hasn't made a sound yet. When he cries, he cries silently. I found him in his crib in the middle of the night crying without making a sound. I asked him if he wanted to sleep in my bed with me and he just nodded his head. I turned the light off in my bedroom and he instantly stiffened and as soon as I charmed a night-light for him he relaxed and went to sleep. When I put him in his high chair I honestly believe that he was afraid to eat. I think that he thought he would get in trouble if he tried to eat."

Albus called a house elf and requested a pot of tea. When they were settled with tea and biscuits.

"The child needs to be around someone that he knows. He witnessed his parents get killed, was sent to muggles where he was neglected if not abused, and finally was taken from that home by three people who he doesn't know and brought to yet another strange place. I believe that James and Lily had a house elf named Dobby. They got him for the express purpose of protecting Harry. We need to find him."

Severus called for Daisy and she appeared immediately with a pop holding Harry in her arms. Dumbledore took Harry onto his lap and began feeding him a biscuit. A small cup of pumpkin juice had appeared next to the teapot.

He asked Severus to read the documents, which were from the Ministry. These made the adoption official. Severus Snape had a son.

Severus stared at the papers in silence for a while unable to believe that it was actually happening. Dumbledore cleared his throat, pulling him out of his daydreams. He looked around slightly dazed before his eye fell on Daisy and he remembered what he wanted to talk to her about.

"Daisy, are you familiar with a house elf named Dobby?" When she nodded vigorously he asked "do you know what happened to him?"

"Oh yes Master Professor sir. A bad wizard stole him the night the big bad wizard killed my Little Master's mommy and daddy. He is being Mr. Malfoy sir and he made my friend bond to him and makes him be doing all the nasty chores at his manor."

"We have to go to Malfoy Manor and force Lucius to release Dobby, Severus" said Dumbledore. "We will have the ministry send some Aurors with us. I'm positive that Voldemort knows that you no longer have his mark, and about the adoption too."He turned to Daisy and told her to take Harry back to their quarters. He told her to take good care of him and that they would be back very soon. Upon hearing this Daisy took the baby from him and they disappeared. The two wizards went to the fireplace and flooed to Dumbledore's office, from which they flooed to the Ministry. Twenty minutes later Professor Snape, Headmaster Dumbledore and ten Aurors appeared in front of the gates of Malfoy Manor. When they rang the bell demanding admittance Lucius Malfoy opened the door."To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit Dumbledore? The Headmaster of Hogwarts and the traitor you brought with you have no business here. He sneered at Snape who returned the glare ten fold.

"We are here to get the house elf Dobby. We know that you stole him from Harry Potter; however, we are will not press charges with the Ministry if you give him a piece of clothing right now. This is non-negotiable Lucius, we are going to take that elf back to his rightful owner."

Malfoy did not like this at all, but what could he do? He knew that he had been caught. Stealing a house elf called for a term in Azkaban and he certainly did not wish to reside in that grim place. So, reluctantly, he called Dobby and instructed him to go fetch him a clean shirt. As soon as the elf appeared again with the shirt Malfoy took it from him and then handed it back and said "I am giving you this shirt you worthless little creature."

Dobby's ears had been flat against his head since he had appeared in the room the first time, but hearing these words made them stand straight up. There was a huge smile on his face as he turned to the two wizards standing behind him. All of a sudden the smile disappeared and the ears went right back down.

"Thank you but Dobby is worthless elf who should be punished. Dobby is not protecting Little Master Harry and must be punished." With this he fell on the floor and started to pound his head against the floor.

Dumblore picked him up saying "No Dobby! You do not need to be punished, you were stolen and you do not need to assign the blame to yourself. Harry is safe now and he has a new father, Professor Snape has adopted him."

With that the group turned around and walked back out of the gates where they turned and disappeared leaving Lucius Malfoy wishing that he had the courage to have hexed them all, although it would have been an impossible task. Malfoy was a powerful wizard but Dumbledore and Snape were both much more powerful.

Upon arriving back at the castle Snape and Dobby went to Snape's quarters to check on Harry. The walked into the nursery and Harry looked up. His face lit up with joy upon seeing his old friend and he ran across the room straight into Dobby's arms and hung on as tight as he could. He still didn't say a word, but the smile on his face told them all exactly how he felt. He didn't want Dobby to ever leave him again

"It is being all right young Master, I is here now because the bad wizard gave me clothes because your new daddy made him. I was not wanting to leave you but that evil wizard just grabbed me and I is being gone from your house! Dobby was going to punish himself, but Headmaster Dumblydore stopped me. Headmaster and Harry's new daddy is being wonderful men."

Severus then introduced Dobby to Daisy. It was very apparent that Dobby was not at all pleased about sharing his Master Harry with another house elf because his ears did their drooping thing again. However Professor Snape explained that it was necessary.

"Dobby, I need both of you. I need you to protect Harry and I need Daisy to take care of him. You two can do this together. There will be times that I will have to leave him to take care of things and I need to know that he is well cared for and safe. With both of you here I will not have to worry about my son every time I leave him."

Both elves nodded their heads and replied that they would be happy to work together for Master Professor and Little Master Harry. Suddenly Fawkes' song was heard through out the apartment and the air started shimmering the way it had yesterday in Dumbledore's office. A moment later Merlin was in the room with them with a huge smile on his face.

"Albus, Severus, we have been watching and we are pleased with what we have seen. Severus you have a large job ahead of you. I know you have doubts about your ability to raise this child, but we know that you are the only one to do it. Now, tomorrow morning both of you and Professor McGonagall are to meet the Council. I will be here after breakfast to take you to the meeting. It is time for you to find out about the Indigo children.'

A/N: I thank all of you who have reviewed and/or put me on your alert list. I was so afraid to try to write this and every time I get another alert it makes me feel really good.


	5. Chapter 4: The Council

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter's world, I just want to live in it.

Thanks to my beta Angelauthor14. She took time while on Holiday to beta this chapter. She is incredible!

The Council

Albus, Severus and Minerva met the next morning in the Headmaster's office, where they had a light breakfast delivered by one of the house elves.

"What Council has Merlin been talking about? I've never heard of any Council other than the Wizengamot. We know that isn't the one he is talking about because as the chief Warlock you would be the first to know about all of this." Severus asked.

Minerva spoke up, "He is right Albus, and I've been thinking the same thing. If Merlin is involved then it must be a very important body, but why have we never heard of it?"

Albus simply smiled and sipped his tea. "I've been thinking about this, and I have come to believe that whatever they wish to speak to us about is going to change our world. This Council has never, to my knowledge, shown themselves before. If they do have anything to do with the happenings in the magical world they have never interfered. Surely they were aware when it went through dark times in the past. Merlin mentioned Fate and Fate has never been known to interfere with the time line of mortals. I'm positive that Harry is involved, but I don't believe that this involves Voldemort. They would not interfere in what would be considered by them to be just another war."

As Albus finished speaking the phoenix music sounded again, the air shimmered and Merlin was with them. He smiled at the three professors and asked if they were ready. Receiving assurances that they were he waved his wand and recited a spell.

Dumbledore's office disappeared and the four of them were standing in a large room. The room had white marble walls that were veined with gold in the centre of which there were breathtaking stained glass windows made of various shades of blue and purple with gold flakes embedded. The floor was just like the walls and in the exact middle of the large expanse of marble was a huge picture of a beautiful blue phoenix. The King of the Magical Animals was the same beautiful colours as the stained glass windows. High above their heads was a skylight with the same beautiful stained glass. The bit which most caught Minerva's attention was the huge crystal fireplace with a magical fire which was residing on the wall opposite them.

Sitting in front of the fireplace was a large mahogany table with carvings of ivory and ebony unicorns, phoenixes and other magical creatures inlaid into the top. A large throne-like chair made of mahogany and upholstered with indigo velvet was at the head of the table. Fifteen less opulent chairs were around the table, six on each side and three at the end of the table opposite of Fate.

As Merlin led our dazed trio to the table the hauntingly beautiful music swelled around them again. As they listened, entranced, the larger chair at the head of the table started to glow getting brighter and brighter. The light continued to get brighter until Albus, Severus and Minerva had to shield their eyes. Never had they seen anything that bright, nor heard anything as beautiful as this music! When the light faded to a dim glow they saw the figure of a large man at the head of the table. The light engulfed him while at the same time it appeared to be coming from him. It sparkled like the figure's bright blue eyes and it made his long white hair stand out like the moon at midnight. He was dressed in white and held a white staff in his left hand. Fate looked at Albus and smiled gently.

"You are correct Albus, we do watch everyone all of the time. We know everything that happens in your world and though we do sometimes try to guide you mortals from this dimension, we never interfere. And now it is time for you to meet the rest of the Council."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth a door opened in the wall and the Council came into the room in single file. The Headmaster and the two Professors looked at the first four as they came through the doors with astonishment. They recognized all four of them as their pictures were all over the place in Hogwarts, they were the Founders of the magical school.

Merlin introduced the rest of the Council as they stepped through the door. There was Falco Asealon who was in _Hogwarts: A History_ as the first known Animagus. Severus remembered reading about him vividly. It was the sort of story which made his lip curl; One day while walking through the woods Falco was watching a falcon in the sky and the next thing he knew he was flying alongside it. After landing upon firm earth he managed to change back into his human form and discovered that he could change back and forth between the two forms.

Severus's attention snapped back to the front of the room when they were joined by the famous wizard duellist Alberta Toothill and Queen Maeve, who had trained witches in Ireland long before Hogwarts was founded. Then there was the famous Quong Po who specialised in magical creatures, Elladora Ketteridge who almost drowned when she discovered the properties of gillyweed as she accidentally consumed it one night after having also consumed a lot of firewhiskey. Out desperation she stuck her head in a bowl of water.

Next to enter the room was the founder of Hogsmeade, Hengist of Woodcroft. The last was a mysterious wizard named Paracelsus. There was no written history about him other than the basics, but for some reason his image was on the most popular chocolate frog trading card and Severus distinctly remembered being hit on the head by a bust of this very same wizard when Peeves dropped it down on his head. Merlin joined the wizards and witches and all twelve seated themselves. When the three mortals had seated themselves Fate spoke again.

"I know you are wondering why you are here. Your world, both magical and muggle, is on the very pinnacle of a New Age. As we sit in this room there is a wave of new children in the world. We are on the brink the next stage of the evolution of mankind. Never before has change occurred as rapidly as it is going to be happening now. These children will be called Indigos, they are our future and they are coming. These children are going to have special needs simply because they have such special abilities. Often in the muggle world they are misdiagnosed and prescribed medicine that constricts their abilities. We cannot let this happen to them in our world and we need to help the muggles to realize what is happening so their children will be able to flourish and do what they are here to do. There are not a lot of them in the world as yet, but the number is growing and will continue to grow. You will see more of them every year and we are going to help you get ready for them. The Indigos are here to lead and to unite us."

Dumbledore spoke up "In what way are these children going to be different?"

Rowena Ravenclaw stood up, looked at the three educators and said. "They are said to have warrior personalities, which indicates that they will lead and take charge. They know that they have things to do and will not be deterred from their goals. But they do not always like authority and rules. They demand absolute honesty and possess that trait themselves. They will not react well to the typical classroom scenario of separate classes for each subject and each age educational program. An indigo child will find a subject that interests him or her and will plunge into that subject to the exclusion of others. When they have learned what they know to be enough they will go onto something else and the cycle will continue."

She paused for breath before continuing.

"They are very sensitive and some will be considered to be prodigies. Some may be brilliant artists or extremely talented musicians and they will firmly believe that everyone can do this if they want and if they believe that they can. Some will have no interest in the arts, some will be drawn to technology and some will be seers. They are all different. They will not be forced to do things that they know are wrong for them but if you can make them understand that it may not be wrong, they will usually be willing to reconsider."

Albus, Severus, and Minerva were reeling.

Finally Severus spoke. "We cannot just let the students decide what they want to study! Why, that would be chaos! They will want to laze about or play all day. They will not learn anything except possibly how to play Quidditch."

"No," said Godric Gryffindor "you will find that they learn more. Why make someone who is not interested in Divination study it? Why make someone who is not interested in charms, or transfiguration, or potions study those subjects? If they are not interested in what they are studying then they will not learn it well and will not use it."

Salazar Slytherin looked at Snape and said "Severus, I believe that you will find that these children will be interested in most of the subjects offered, and will probably request teaching in subjects that are not normally offered in our schools. This must be encouraged, it is one of the things that the Indigos will need, the freedom and encouragement to explore and to learn and to grow at their own pace is extremely important."

Looking at all three he continued, "The main problem we are going to contend with will be making the people understand that dark magic does not necessarily mean bad magic. There is very little magic that is evil, even though it can be used for evil purposes by evil wizards."

Once again he paused to look around the room impressively

"Fate told you that the muggles misdiagnose some of the Indigos as ADHD, Autistic or disruptive. You will find that your greatest educational tool will be communication. You must communicate, openly and honestly with these new kids. If you give them cause to distrust they will be disruptive and rebellious. They know better than we do what they need to be successful and they intend to get it. They are strong-willed but not really stubborn."

Helga Hufflepuff looked at them and said "this is such a wonderful thing. You will see two children who are best friends mingling with other children for a day or an hour or a week. This will not mean that the two are at odds; it just means that they do not have the need to be with that friend at that time. In a short time you will see children from different houses interacting in a way that they never have. Some of the students who are not Indigo will be drawn to these children and eventually may even become Indigo themselves. They will want to go to the special wing to learn with them, and this must be allowed."

Helga's face betrayed just how excited she really was and she was nearly gasping for breath as she finished her speech.

"They will eat with their friends, instead of with their houses. Quidditch teams will no longer be house teams, but teams that are formed by the students themselves. The children will also be more tolerant of muggles and they will not like or approve of the rules about muggle- wizard interaction. Oh, I am so going to enjoy watching and helping with this new stage of mankind's journey."

Merlin arose from his chair. "You have learned much today my friends. I am going to transport you to your home now and I am planning to stay at Hogwarts for a while, if that would be agreeable."

Fate spoke one more time.

"The Council will be watching and helping. If you need us as a body or if you need just one member tell Merlin and he will arrange it. Together we will help these children accomplish their mission and while we are leading and teaching the Indigos, the Indigos will be leading and teaching us."

With this Merlin approached the three, waved his arm and recited another spell causing the four to disappear.

A/N: The names of the members of the Council were found at the Harry Potter Lexicon.

The phrase _"they are our future and they are coming"_ was borrowed from the movie The Indigo Evolution.

If anyone is interested in the Indigo Children you can search for it on the Internet. I have never been a New Ager, but I read the term and went to do a search for it. I started reading and watched several video clips and have been fascinated about the subject ever since.


	6. Chapter 5: The Pretty Bird

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, only in my dreams

Thanks again to Angelauthor14, I appreciate you girl

The Pretty Bird

The three educators stood in the Headmaster's office dazed and silent, much as they had done two days before. Merlin however made himself comfortable by conjuring a pot of tea and a plate of cakes, which he offered to them.

Severus declined, stating that he needed to check on Harry and left for his quarters. Albus and Minerva sat and joined Merlin for tea.

Minerva spoke, "I still don't quite comprehend the concept of Indigo Children, or why we need to change the school. Hogwarts has remained as it is since it was founded more than a thousand years ago. Our students receive the finest education in witchcraft and wizardry, why can't we teach these children as we always have?"

"Minerva," said Merlin, "the world is going to be changing. These children are our future, they are here to lead us into a new golden age where love will triumph over fear and awareness will triumph over ignorance. Their gifts and their intentions are discerned from birth. If they are interested in a subject they will soak up the knowledge like a sponge, because of this they will be very advanced in their areas of interest."

He continued, "You will find that they will respond much better if you treat them like respected adults. As I told you before, they demand honesty. When they are confronted with a problem they will create the experience they need to help with the problem, or with the area in which they need to grow. They do this because they learn best by experiencing life. We have got to create the environment they need to achieve their full potential and while Hogwarts has been, and still is, the best school of its kind in existence, it simply will not work for the Indigos as it is."

Albus looked at Minerva and smiled, "We can do this. Imagine what these children are going to be able to accomplish, Minnie! We have a few years to prepare and I believe that you will see that the Council knows what they are doing. If these Indigos can make our world a better place, then it is up to us to help them in any way we can."

There was silence in the room for a few minutes as Minerva thought it over. Then she said, "I suppose you are right. I am going to go to London to find some muggle books on the subject. We are going to need them if we are going to do this properly."

She stood up and after grabbing a handful of floo powder from the small bowl on the mantle she stepped into the fireplace and said "The Leaky Cauldron," leaving the two aged wizards enjoying their tea.

While Albus, Minerva and Merlin were discussing the future Severus was dealing with the present.

Upon entering his quarters he headed straight for the nursery, where he found the two house elves and their young charge, Harry. But the nursery did not look the same; the Disney characters had been replaced with all sorts of magical creatures flying among clouds. There were dragons, hippogriffs and many others flying all over the walls.

Daisy spoke up, "Master Professor, young Master Harry is being such a smart young one! He is waving his hands and the walls is being changed."

Harry, in the meantime, had spotted his new father and was hiding behind Dobby. He didn't know this man well enough yet to trust him, but he remembered Dobby and knew that Dobby would take care of him.

Realizing this Dobby picked him up and handed him to Severus, who was still in a state of shock upon hearing Harry had actually performed wandless magic. Everyone knew young witches and wizards sometimes performed accidental magic, but this was different, this was done intentionally! He carried the baby out into the living area and sat on the couch in front of the fire with him on his lap.

"Harry, you certainly managed to surprise me," he said. "I can hardly believe that someone your age actually did that." Seeing tears well up in the green eyes that were staring up at him he continued, "Oh no son, you are not in trouble. I'm not angry with you. As a matter of fact young man I think what you did is wonderful! I can't wait for you to be old enough for me to teach you more magic."

He called Daisy and asked her to bring some toys and sat Harry down on the rug to play with them so that he could work on grading some papers that he had left upon his desk. After working for a while he stopped and sat watching the baby play. He noticed that Harry was looking at a crystal phoenix that was sitting on a high shelf on the other side of the room. As he was congratulating himself that the statue was out of reach of small hands one of those small hands waved and the phoenix rose and floated across the room to the child who was sitting there guiding it.

As the new daddy sat there with his jaw dropped open Harry looked up at him and suddenly smiled a huge smile. Snape had not seen a smile on the baby's face since they had brought him to Hogwarts and was amazed that a smile could contain such beauty and joy, especially coming from a child who had lived through everything this small boy had. It was as if the sun had come out from behind the clouds. Severus's eyes shined and twinkled and he looked as if he had been given the world.

Severus ran to the fireplace and floo-called to Dumbledore's office. "Albus, come quickly. I need to show you something right now!"

Albus and Merlin came through the fireplace right away. They found Snape beside himself with excitement and Harry sitting on the floor with a crystal statue in his small hands.

"Albus, the boy can do wand-less magic!" Snape yelled. "Look at him, he summoned the phoenix from that high shelf over the fireplace! And he redecorated his room too!"

By now Harry was beginning to feel afraid. His new daddy was yelling and Harry was afraid that he was going to be put into a cupboard. His little face lost its smile and large tears started rolling down his cheeks. He had only wanted to look at the pretty bird; he wasn't going to hurt it. Maybe if he put it back he wouldn't be in trouble anymore. So thinking, he waved his hand again and the phoenix floated back across the room to its original position while the three wizards stood there amazed.

"Well Severus," said Merlin, "you are certainly going to need to learn about Indigos because you definitely have one here. His aura is a little weak right now because of the neglect he has suffered, but this child is one of the new kids."


	7. Chapter 6: Head Over Heels

Head Over Heels (Great title

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does – sigh!

Thanks again to AngelAuthor14, my wonderful beta

Head Over Heels  
  
A week later Severus walked into the nursery and Harry looked up with a smile. The change in the baby was amazing; he had gained weight, had rosy cheeks and smiled frequently. For the past couple of days he raised his little arms and jumped up and down every time he saw his Daddy, making the wizard realize that he had been missing something in his life.

He worried about Harry though; he had found him several times with silent tears rolling down his cheeks in the middle of the night. Those were the nights that he took his son to bed with him. He could tell that the little boy trusted him to keep the monsters away. Then too, there was the fact that Harry still had not spoken a word. He hadn't even laughed out loud. This lack of sound coming from a baby just could not be natural.

While he was thinking about how to help the boy he heard Albus calling from the floo. Walking to the fireplace he saw the old Headmaster's head inside the flames.

"May I come in Severus? It's very important, I have something to give you."

At Severus's nod he stepped into the room holding two boxes and a letter.

"Severus, a deliveryman from Gringotts just delivered these for you and Harry. They were found in the wreckage of the Potter home and put in their vault at Gringotts with instructions to deliver them to you and Harry. They had been misplaced, which is why you have not received them before. They also sent their deepest apologies. Call young Harry in here and let's see what this is about."

When Harry opened the larger box his brilliant green eyes became as big as saucers. There was the little toy broom that his Uncle Padfoot had given him on his birthday, and the little snitch that had come from Uncle Moony. He jumped on the broom and hovered twelve inches above the carpet, just like his Father had taught him to do on that last afternoon in Godric's Hollow. He looked up at Snape and Dumbledore and he was so happy that for the first time they could see his aura. He shone like a bright star and all around him were different shades of blue, the baby's joy could be seen shimmering in the light. Never had the two wizards seen anything like it, it was indescribable. They could do nothing but stand and stare in awe.

When he could tear his eyes away from the happy boy Severus glanced down at the letter. He immediately recognized Lily's handwriting! Deciding to deal with the letter and the smaller box later after Harry was in bed, he excused himself and went to his room to put them in a safe place.

While his Dad was out of the room Harry released the tiny snitch. As Albus watched with a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his face, the little boy chased the snitch around the room. Suddenly, disaster! Harry came flying around the corner at the same time his father was coming into the room and WHAM!! Harry got him at knee level and the Professor, feared by every student at Hogwarts, flew up in the air, went head over heels and landed flat on his back with his robes up over his head!

Before Severus had time to realize exactly what had happened to him he heard a sound that he had not heard before. He heard a child's laughter. Moving the robe from his face he looked up at a little boy hovering over him and laughing!

With a smile on his face Professor Severus Snape stood up and said to Albus, "Leave it to James Potter's son to fly me down and then laugh about it!" Picking Harry up he laughed with the baby.

"Yes, wouldn't James be proud of his son now?" laughed Dumbledore. Still chuckling aloud he stepped into the fireplace and returned to his office.

Looking at Fawkes he said, "you know old friend, Harry Potter is the best thing that has ever happened to Severus. I believe that soon he is going to realize that the feelings he is beginning to have for his adopted son are love."

Snape was thankful for the sound of Harry's laughter and wanted to hear it again. He called Daisy and asked her to get the baby dressed warmly. When Harry came back with his warm clothing on Snape picked up him, his broom and the snitch and took them outside to fly.

Harry and his Dad spent the afternoon outside. Harry was already showing a marked talent for flying and Severus could tell that he was going to have to teach him some rules, but for today he just stayed close to him and watched carefully. After the little daredevil almost gave him a heart attack by flying out over the lake Severus took him back into the castle.

Later, after dinner and bath time Severus tucked Harry into his bed. Kissing him goodnight he said, "Good night son, know that you are safe and that you are loved. I will hear you if you call to me."

Leaving the sleepy child he retrieved the letter and the small box from his room. He put the box to one side and opened the letter.

A/N: I know this is short, and I apologize. I just wanted to get this part over so I could go on to Lily. Harry wouldn't leave me alone until I did.


	8. Chapter 7: The Letter

The Letter

_Dear Severus,_

When you read this you will be my son's legal father, Fate and the Council have told me so. I need to explain some things to you, things that you don't know.

Two weeks before Harry's birthday Merlin came to me, and took me to the Council. Fate explained to me that he could not change the future, James and I were supposed to die when we did; however, it was not Harry's time. He is there for a very important reason. This is why the Avada Kedavra curse did not work on him but rebounded and vanquished Voldemort. I know that everyone is convinced that he survived because of my love, but many mothers have given their lives in failed attempts to save their children. Please know, my dear Severus, that it was fate, all of it was fate.

I found out that Dumbledore intended to leave my son at Petunia's house and begged the Council to intervene. You know her Severus you know her well. I could not leave things as they were; I had to protect my child.

Severus, I know how you felt about me. I always loved you but I was in love with James. You were my first and best friend, both in and out of Hogwarts. You helped me so many times when Petunia was giving me grief about magic and other things too. I could always talk to you about anything, important or trivial. I have missed you so much these last few years and now Voldemort is to kill James and I and we will never have a chance to talk again.

I asked the Council to send Harry to you and to urge you to adopt him. You are the only person I can trust to raise him to be the man I know he can be. I know too that you will grow to love the little scamp as if he were your own son. I understand that at first you will think of James when you think of Harry but that will pass and you will look at Harry with love and with pride for all of his accomplishments, which are fated to be many.

Because I was determined to watch over my child the Council helped me with a spell. It is ancient magic, and could be considered by some to be dark. Dark or not, I didn't care; I have to watch over him, and help you with him. Open the box that came with this letter and put on the medallion that you will find in there. This will make it possible for me to know when I am needed and I will come.

Severus, I cannot tell you the future but know that you are not fated to spend your life alone. You will have the love of my child and the love of your own children. There is a woman out there who is right for you and you will be meeting her soon. Don't close yourself off from her when she appears in your life my old friend; open your mind and your heart. You will never regret it.

Please give Harry a kiss from me when you put him to bed and tell him how much he is loved.  


_Yours,  
Lily_

Severus opened the small box and through his tears he saw a gold and silver medallion on a gold chain. In the middle of the medallion was a blue phoenix, just like the one on the floor of the council chamber. Putting the medallion over his head he felt a wave of magic engulf him.

Morning found him still sitting, watching the fire, and thinking about Lily and Fate.

A/N: Another short one, but I didn't want anything to take the focus off of the letter.


	9. Chapter 8: You're A Bully!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but I like to fantasize.

Thank you to my amazing beta, AngelAuthor14

You're A Bully!

The students returned to school and Severus tried to get him life back on track.

The recent events had totally shaken his whole existence, he was no longer a professor and spy. Now he was professor and father and he believed that being a spy was easier. He was used to unruly pre-teens and the even more unruly teens. He didn't know how to take care of this child that Fate and Lily had decided he was to raise! Then the letter came back into his mind.

Severus had loved Lily, more than she had ever realized and he had known that she regarded him as a big brother and best friend. They had met as children and had been best friends from day one. When he joined the Death Eaters she had stopped speaking to him entirely. It killed him that he couldn't explain that he had joined Voldermort's legions as a spy or that Dumbledore had asked him to do so. He knew though, that she would be safer if she were not near him anymore. If he stepped out of line or was discovered as a spy the Dark Lord would go after anyone Snape cared about. He could not let the egocentric maniac know how much he cared for her.

When she married James, Severus was drunk for five days. The sixth day he woke up miserable, sick and filthy, but he also woke up determined. He would never let anyone get that close to him again. He would not give pain a chance to come at him again in this way. He might not be able to control pain coming from outside sources, but he could control pain coming from the inside. He would just close that part off and build a little more ice around his heart. And so he became the Terror of the Dungeons, the most feared wizard in the whole school. He knew the students did not like him, but he was glad.

Time continued and Severus grew to care about Harry more than he had thought possible. He was still feared by the students, but the enjoyment had gone out of it for him. He had even caught himself wishing that one of them would just smile at him one time. He quickly got that thought right out of his head, but the memory remained. Lily had not come to him as of yet, but then there had been no emergencies. He almost wished one would arise so that he could see her again.

Harry had begun to shadow his daddy when he was in his lab. He was extremely interested in the potions he watched Severus brew. He still had not spoken one word and even though he acted frustrated sometimes when he tried to communicate, he refused to even try to speak. He loved to sit in his father's chair and pretend to read his father's books. Since these were books that Severus had picked up over the years and were about extremely advanced spells and potions and even ancient magic he always chuckled when he saw the baby sitting there "reading."

Harry did not go to the potions classroom while class was in session very much. The child drew so much attention that the students didn't pay attention to the lessons. When he was four years old his Dad asked him if he would like to go to class with him on the first day of school. Would he! Harry had nodded his head, smiled and ran to get his cloak.

--

Harry was sitting at a small desk beside his father's desk with a piece of parchment, drawing pictures of flying flame breathing dragons and flying snitches when the students came into the class. Snape waited for the class to take their seats and began the lesson.

He wrote gillyweed on the blackboard with his wand and looked at a red haired boy sitting in the third row who had been trying to be inconspicuous so that he would not be called upon. Charlie Weasley was fourteen years old and was the seeker for Gryffindor. He also possessed the dubious reputation of being the Romeo of the school. He loved girls and all of the girls loved him. Studying was definitely not high on his list of favourite things to do.

"Mr. Weasley who discovered the properties of gillyweed and how did it come about?" the Professor asked.

When he did not get an answer he stalked over to stand in front of the young man, who by now was red faced as well as red haired. Sneering at him and putting his face very close to the now shaking Gryffindor he hissed, "Surely the wonderful Mr. Weasley, loved by all the girls and famed as a brilliant Quidditch player can say something! Any second year would be able to answer that question, but of course you have to have a brain to be able to use it you dunderhead!"

As he opened his mouth to say something else equally blistering he heard a voice from the front of the room. He whirled around and there stood his son glaring at him.

"It was Elladora Kitteridge! And she discovered it because she was drunk and ate some and stuck her head in a bucket of water," shouted Harry. "And you're mean! And you're a BULLY!"

With this Harry burst into tears and ran out of the room.

Snape stood there thunderstruck. He couldn't believe it! Harry had talked; moreover, it appeared that he had actually been reading all those books, as that was the only explanation for him knowing the answer to that question. Then it struck him; Harry had called him a bully! He remembered what it had felt like when the Marauders had bullied him while he was a student, and he also knew how it felt to be bullied by Voldermort. He had to find Harry; he could not bear the thought that his son thought that he could be like that!

He hurriedly dismissed the class and called for Dobby. The elf appeared with his ears flat again. "Yes Master Professor sir, you called for Dobby?" he said.

"Dobby, have you seen Harry?" asked the worried wizard, fear lacing his panicked words.

"Yes sir, Dobby is knowing that Little Master is needing him so I's is getting him and taking him to his nursery. Harry is being crying and Daisy is with him," replied the elf with reproach in his voice.

"Thank you," said Severus. "You may go back now, tell Daisy that I will be there shortly."

He turned and walked into his office and sat down at his desk. He knew that it was his treatment of the student that had given Harry the impression that his father was mean, was a bully, and was to be feared. He knew that somehow he had to make the little boy understand that he wasn't really like that. He never wanted to see his son look at him with that look in his eyes again.

He also could not understand just why Harry had picked this time to speak aloud when he had never spoken one word before. He didn't know how he was going to handle this and didn't know whom to talk to for help.

As he was sitting with his head in his hands he felt a wave of magic in the room and heard Lily's voice saying, "Severus it will be fine, you just need to talk to him."

He looked up and she was standing in front of him. Smiling gently she said "Severus, Harry has been talking to you for a long time, you just weren't listening to him." Seeing the confused look on his face she continued, "Listen to him with your mind, he is talking to you with his mind Sev, you just have to be still and hear him." With this she disappeared leaving Snape with a stunned look on his face and joy in his heart.

Hurrying to his quarters he went straight to the nursery. Daisy was rocking Harry and singing a soft lullaby to him. The boy was still crying and Severus took him from the elf's arms.

"Son, I'm sorry. I would never do anything to hurt one of the students; I am just trying to teach them and get their attention. I know they fear me, but at least they learn. I don't want you to think that I'm a bully, Harry."

As he looked down at his child, Severus knew that he would have to change. How could he expect Harry to grow up to be the kind of man he should be if grew up watching his father terrorize children? He knew that he needed to do some deep soul searching, so he kissed his son and placed him back on Daisy's lap. Retreating to his study he spent the rest of the night watching the fire and thinking.

The next morning Harry was not in the classroom, but the students saw the beginnings of change in their Potions Instructor.

A/N: I'm not sure about the timeline for Charlie's age, but I think I've got it just about right.


	10. Chapter 9: Hogwart's Magical PreSchool

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his world, I can dream though

Thanks again to AngelAuthor14, if you haven't read her stories, you should

Hogwart's Magical Pre-School

During Severus's period of adjustment the three educators and Merlin were doing research and having meetings about the plans for the new students.

Minerva had found several books on the subject on her first trip to the muggle bookstore and several more on subsequent trips. She was rapidly becoming an expert on the subject, as were Albus and Severus. All three were beginning to be excited about the changes that were coming.

As Severus became more accustomed to having a son he began to spend more and more time with the Headmaster and Merlin going over plans, both for the classroom structures and the additional personnel they were going to need.

Harry began to venture out of Snape's quarters a little more everyday. He explored the castle with Daisy or Dobby. He often flew his new broom, which was just a little bigger and would go just a little higher than his first one. You could see him on the Quidditch pitch or flying around the grounds of the stately old castle on nice days. The students and staff loved to watch him fly, he laughed out loud with shining eyes. He was beginning to try simple aerial tricks, several times bringing the house elves to the very brink of cardiac arrest.

He didn't talk very much still, but he did occasionally and the ones who were close to him were beginning to be able to communicate with him silently. Above all, he loved to visit Hagrid. He loved the little cabin, the magical animals (especially Fang) and he loved going with Hagrid into the forbidden forest.

One afternoon Hagrid lost him for just a moment in the forest. Panic stricken, the lovable giant started calling for him. As he stopped to listen he heard a child's laughter coming from behind some trees. Hurrying through the trees to get to the child before something terrible could occur Hagrid couldn't believe what he was seeing. Harry was sitting in a grassy clearing with a circle of unicorns lying around him! Two baby unicorns were playing with him! Hagrid was amazed, the unicorns would barely let him approach them and they never let him near the babies!

Hagrid was scared to death to tell Severus about this. He knew what Professor Snape was capable of doing when angry and he was not a happy camper when he stuttered out the story to Harry's Dad.

Severus turned as white as a sheet but he was so amazed that the unicorns had let the boy into their circle that he just looked at the huge man and said, "If anything had happened to my son because of your carelessness I would have hexed you into the next life. From now on Harry does not go into the Forbidden Forest under any circumstances! Do you understand me, Hagrid?"

The Professor heard a voice in his head say "DADDY!! I love to play with Hagrid in the forest! I won't wander off anymore Dad, I promise! The unicorns want me to come visit them again, they told me so."

He turned around and saw his son staring up at him with big, green eyes, which were currently swimming with tears.

Severus sighed "Very well, next week I will accompany you and Hagrid when he goes into the forest. That is absolutely the only way you will be permitted to go."

At that Harry smiled and said "Thank you Daddy!" aloud, making Severus and the relieved Hagrid laugh out loud.

A few days after his escapade in the forest Harry was exploring the corridor where the DADA classroom was located. Curious, he stopped and peeked into the room at the same time that Professor Green was demonstrating the stupify spell. The poor man cast the spell at one of the Slytherins and was knocked back, flat on the floor. The Professor and the whole class turned to see what had happened and there was little Harry with his small hands extended, holding a powerful shield in place between the student and his teacher.

That evening Albus, Severus, Minerva and Merlin met in Dumbledore's office.

Merlin spoke first, "I believe the time has come for Hogwarts to open a pre-school for witches and wizards. Young Harry is becoming more powerful than most of the students here now, and is learning everyday. I believe that he, and the other Indigo children would benefit greatly from a pre-school."

Albus, who had been thinking along the same lines ever since hearing about the unicorns and the shield that Harry had built, and held, without a wand, and with no training, was happy to hear this.

Minerva spoke, "I think this would be an excellent beginning for the new school. I've noticed in the registry book that for the past few years some of the children's names have been blue. I imagine those are the ones who would benefit most from a pre-school. I believe however, that all of the children should be given the option. According to what I've been reading sometimes a child who is not Indigo will mingle with and learn from the Indigo Kids and eventually become one themselves. Some of the children believe that anyone can become an Indigo."

So they planned, while the small boy who had brought this to a head stayed in his room and wondered how much trouble he was in. When his father returned to the apartment in the dungeons he called Harry to him.

"Harry, would you please explain to me exactly what happened this afternoon?" he asked.

Harry looked at him fearfully and replied, "I saw Professor Green throw a spell at that boy and I knew I should protect him, so I just thought about a shield and it came."

Severus looked at him and said, "It just came to you? Son, do you realize how difficult it is for most wizards to perform wandless magic? I don't believe a child your age has ever been known to do it, except in cases of accidental magic!" He looked down at the little boy and seeing the laughter in the brilliant green eyes, he had to smile. Shaking his head he said, "Harry I swear you are giving me gray hair! I found one in my brush this morning!"

And thus Hogwarts Magical Pre-School was bought about.

The pre-school was situated in a new wing on the south side of the castle. Albus and Merlin went on the lawn with their wands one night when the moon was rising. They built a magical fire and threw some stones into it. As the two wizards spoke an incantation and pointed their wands at the fire the stones started growing and multiplying. One by one they floated out of the flames and into place on the outline that had been marked on the lawn that afternoon. By morning the addition was finished and they took Snape, McGonagall, and the rest of the staff on a tour.

The offices were on the ground floor, as well as a cafeteria for the teachers and students. Severus could just imagine what that room would be like once it was filled with noisy children. At the end of the hall a large door connected the wing to the rest of the school, which would be handy for getting from one place to the other quickly.

The three classrooms were on the first floor. There were desks for the small students, but there were also large areas for other activities. There were desks for two teachers in all of the three rooms. The rooms were all light and airy with large windows and bright colours. Severus knew that Harry would be happy there.

In addition to the classrooms this floor housed a small infirmary, which would be run by a pretty blonde young medi-witch named Catherine Thornedike. She would, of course, be under Poppy's supervision, but she would be responsible for the young students' health.

The third floor consisted two dormitories, one for girls and one for boys in the event that any of the children remained overnight. Staff quarters were on this floor as well. All of the rooms were spacious and already looked nice and comfortable, as they were equipped with hundreds of toys, Severus suspected that it had been Minerva's doing.

The whole wing had been charmed to react to the students' and teachers' needs with the same spell used to create the room of requirement. This was basically a wing of requirement.

The basement consisted of one huge room with chairs, couches, and small tables scattered about holding magazines and books. One whole wall consisted of a giant fireplace. This was for the parents to bring the children to school in the mornings and to return to pick them up in the afternoons. This private floor network would be connected to the fireplace in their homes and could only be used by the parents or guardians of the students. They were also warded to refuse entry to anyone who had any bad intentions towards the school, the main building, or anyone within them. The students were allowed to stay during the school term if the parents so desired, but most of them would probably be day students.

Later, coming into the Great Hall for dinner the professors noticed several new faces among them. Headmaster Dumbledore stood up and tapped on his glass as soon as everyone was seated. "It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the staff of Hogwarts Magical Pre-School. To my left is Catherine Thornedike, the medi-witch for the pre-school. Most of you met her today during our tour."

He quickly introduced the rest of the staff. There was Amy Whitehouse, a young woman with brown hair and laughing blue eyes, Merry Jenkins, who was a middle aged woman with greying hair and round glasses, Leon Snodgrass, a young man with long auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail, Constance Green who was married to the DADA instructor Professor Green, Laura Black, who was related to the man blamed for the murders of James and Lily Potter, and Brian Woodall who just looked up and grinned at everyone.

Stephanie Brown, the last to be introduced had quickly captured the attention of a certain Potions Professor. She was a gorgeous woman, tall and slim, with black hair, olive skin, and huge brown eyes, she happened to be a Paediatric Psychologist.

Merlin stood next and after the applause he received he made another announcement. "It has been decided by Headmaster Dumbledore and myself that the Headmaster for our new pre-school will be Professor Severus Snape.

Snape sat with his mouth open and a look of astonishment on his face. Had Merlin fallen down and bumped his head he wondered? He thought about it for a minute and decided maybe it wouldn't be too bad. He would be able to obtain quarters out of the gloomy dungeons, he wouldn't have to put up with clumsy dunderheads causing explosions everyday anymore, but best of all, it would put him into daily contact with Dr. Brown!

The next day invitations went out to all the parents of magical children who would be five before the next school year started requesting a meeting the following week at Hogwarts.

The day after that the headlines of the Daily Prophet read:

_**HOGWARTS TO OPEN MAGICAL PRE-SCHOOL**_

_**SEVERUS SNAPE TO BE HEADMASTER OF NEW PRE-SCHOOL**_

_**THE BOY-WHO-LIVED TO BE ONE OF FIRST STUDENTS**_


	11. Chapter 10: The Shore

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the characters that you don't recognize

Thanks to AngelAuthor14, my awesome beta, go read her stories

The Shore

The next week was the last week of the school year, and after the sumptuous Leaving Feast the students departed, leaving only the staff, house elves, Merlin and Harry. Knowing that the end of summer would bring a major workload Severus decided to take Harry on holiday. So the two of them, along with Daisy and Dobby, packed their bags and prepared to leave for a month at the shore in Newquay. This was the first time Harry had been outside of Hogwarts for any length of time, so he was excited, but not nearly as excited as the two elves. Daisy was beside herself trying to be sure she had everything that everyone would need and Dobby wanted to raid the castle's kitchen to fill three coolers and four bags full of food. Severus had to threaten him with a gift of clothing to make him give up on that idea. Unbeknownst to the eagle-eyed professor however he still managed a couple of bags of food, he was taking no chances of his Little Master being hungry.

When they finally got to the resort it was time for Harry to go to bed. After reading two stories and finally getting the child to go to sleep Severus wandered out onto the patio and stood watching the moonlight play over the water. The man, who had always been just the Potions Professor, didn't know exactly how had gotten himself into this situation. He wasn't sure he would be able to be a good Headmaster, he still wasn't sure that he was a good father, and being brutally honest he had to admit to himself that he was afraid.

"I would never admit that to another living soul," he murmured aloud.

"Well, Sev," said a voice from the shadow of a large oak tree "I'm not a living soul, so I guess that's all right."

Turning, he saw Lily standing at the dark end of the patio. She was engulfed in a soft white light. As she smiled at him the light got a little brighter, and her green eyes twinkled.

"You're going to be just fine Severus," she continued. "You have changed in the past few years my friend. I always knew that you weren't the terrible ogre that you tried to become after you took the Dark Mark and I've been waiting for you to realize it. I know you will come to full realization soon, which is one of the main reasons I wanted you to adopt my son. Having Harry is one of the things that will help you realize your own worth, and your new position will help too. I know you will teach him not only the skills he needs to be a successful man, but you will give him both the spiritual and the moral foundations he will need to become a good man."

Snape looked at the shade of the only woman he had ever loved and asked, "Why haven't you come again before? It's been so long, and Harry didn't even see you the other time you were here."

"No, Severus, he didn't see me, and he cannot for many more years. If I appear to you in his presence he still won't hear or see me. I have been around you both much more than you realize. When you are in need of my help you will be aware of my presence, but only then."

She paused and looked at him seriously, "Your new post as Headmaster of the Pre-School will help you too when it comes to Harry. He is going to be extremely powerful but he will not be the only one who is. The children who will be coming into your school are different from the students Hogwarts has taught before. They are going to have special skills and special talents. Never be afraid to let Harry, or any of the children express themselves Severus, that is most important. But always remember that they need discipline too, in fact they want discipline, and all children do. You will be able to find the balance you need Headmaster Snape, you are going to be fine."

With those words Lily wasn't there anymore. She didn't apparate and didn't exactly disappear or fade from sight, she just wasn't there. Snape spent several hours that night on the patio, listening to the breeze, and the waves and enjoying the moonlight on the water.

The days at the shore passed and father and son finally had time to spend together. Back at Hogwarts Snape's duties frequently left Harry spending most of his time with the elves. Severus did try to spend quality time with him, but it just didn't happen very often. But now morning would find the two walking along the sand dunes, with Harry laughing with joy, as he ran in and out of the frothy waves.

Severus loved to walk down the beach with Harry darting ahead of him, stopping every few steps to pick up a seashell which he would put in a little pail that he carried every time they went onto the beach. Severus most definitely did not love the times Harry decided to throw bread or crumbs to the gulls. Nasty, noisy creatures! A few times he had to make a hurried trip inside to take a shower and shampoo his hair. Harry however continued to feed the birds because Snape, seeing how much the boy loved it, did not have the heart to deny him.

So the month passed slowly and peacefully. The only high drama occurred one afternoon just before they were scheduled to return to the school when the Professor took Harry for a swim. Wild horses could not have dragged Severus Snape out onto the beach in a bathing costume, so he stood on the shore while Harry happily paddled in the waves. The man's attention was drawn for just a few seconds by a sea gull diving after a fish and when he returned his gaze to his son, his son was not there. Snape's heart dropped when he saw the empty expanse of water! Desperately searching the waves he saw a small pair of glasses floating in the water, and black curls just under the surface! Frantically he ran into the water and dove to where he had seen the curls. Seeing his son floating just ahead of him, he grabbed the small body and headed for the surface with Harry in his arms.

He stumbled onto the beach and laid his son down on the sand. The child started coughing and was immediately violently sick as his body got rid of the seawater he had ingested. Seeing this, Snape collapsed beside Harry and lifted him into his arms with tears mixing with the salt water on his face.

"Harry, I was so afraid. I was afraid I wouldn't get to you in time. I cannot even think what I would have done if you had left me," he cried.

Suddenly the truth dawned upon him, he loved this child. This was his Son and always would be. He could not even imagine what his life would be without the little boy in it. He felt two small hands upon his cheeks, and looking down his brown eyes met the green ones. After a few long seconds Harry smiled and said, "I love you too Daddy."


	12. Chapter 11: New Friends

New Friends

Severus had enjoyed his holiday; however he was grateful to return to the castle. He had so much work to do that he wasn't even sure where to start. It was the 29th of July and Harry's birthday was on the 31st. He needed to plan a small party for the child and had not as yet decided on a gift for him. Then on the first of August they teachers would be coming to get ready for the small students that were be there soon. He still had to take Harry to buy new clothing too. Luckily, the school would provide whatever was needed, so that he did not have to worry about school supplies.

Snape also had to move to new quarters because Horace Slughorn was taking over the position of Portions Professor and would need the quarters that he and his small family were currently occupying.

Because he wanted to spend as much time with his son, especially after his epiphany on the beach, he decided to take Harry with him to his office the morning after they returned home. Entering Snape's office Harry went directly to the bookshelves that covered two of the walls. Finding one he apparently found interesting he sat in one of the comfortable, green leather chairs and started turning pages. Snape , who still not adjusted very well to the sight of a five year old child reading advanced text books, just shook his head and immersed himself in his own work.

After working for a few hours Severus called a break. "What have you been reading," he asked Harry.

Harry looked over and replied, "Oh, I'm reading about turning into." When his father looked confused he continued, "you know, turning into animals. That sounds like so much fun!"

"Well, one day you may be able to find out but that won't happen for several more years. That is one of the most complicated and difficult spells to learn. It takes much studying  
and work to it and some are never able to make the transition Harry," he replied to the boy who was looking at him with a sparkle in his eyes. "What do you say we have some lunch in the Great Hall, and afterwards we'll see about out new accommodations?"

After lunch they returned, with Albus and Merlin, to the pre-school wing. After some discussion the group went to the third floor and Snape said aloud "I need an apartment for myself, my son, and two house elves. As soon as the words left his mouth a door appeared on the wall at the end of the hall. Opening the door, they found a spiral staircase, which opened up, onto a spacious room with gleaming hardwood floors and floor-to-ceiling windows on the wall opposite the staircase. There was a hall leading out of the room that revealed two bedrooms, a study and a laboratory for Severus, and two small rooms for Daisy and Dobby, which were connected by a common sitting room. All of the rooms, with the exception of the elves, who didn't need the floo, had large stone fireplaces, which were connected by floo to Dumbledore's office and to all of the fireplaces in the new wing. Severus had the password needed to make it accessible to the outside world too, so he and Harry could floo to Diagon Ally or other places as needed.

There were two large, comfortable looking couches and several chairs, all in black leather and a huge, round, glass table which sat in front of the fireplace with one of the couches and two of the chairs around it. The rest of the furniture was situated so you could sit and look out of the window at the view, which was beautiful.

Harry entered his room with the three wizards following behind him. He had a large bed with red hangings and a red and white rug on the floor. There was a small play table with chairs and a large cabinet for his wardrobe. He looked around for a moment and then with a wave of his hand the red hangings were blue and the rug was blue and white. He waved his hand again and the small play table was a desk with one chair. The remaining chairs were now bookshelves, which were full.

Severus and Albus stood staring with their mouths open, while Merlin looked absolutely delighted. With a chuckle he said, "Gentlemen, the new kids are here. It is going to be an interesting future with children such as this one for us to try to keep up with."

That evening as the new Headmaster was putting his things in the right places he heard a voice coming over the floo. Walking into the living area he saw Dr. Brown's head in the fire. "Severus, may I come through for a moment? I'm downstairs in my office at the moment." Upon receiving permission she stepped out of the fire holding the hand of a small girl. "Headmaster Snape, I would like for you to meet my daughter, Jaelle. The little girl shyly smiled at the tall, pale man looking down at her. "Hello sir, I am going to be a student here at your school," she lisped.

Jaelle had long, thick black hair that framed her small heart shaped face with riotous curls. She had olive skin and beautiful brown eyes framed with long, curly black lashes like her mother. She was acting shy at the moment; however Severus could see the mischief dancing in her eyes.

"Good evening, Jaelle," he said, "I hope you like it here. Would you like to meet my son? I believe he is about your age, he will be five years old tomorrow." Calling Harry he told him to take Jaelle into the kitchen and ask Daisy for a snack.

When the children left the room Severus turned to the gorgeous woman standing beside him. "What a pleasure to see you again Dr. Brown. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening? Is there any problem with your office, or your quarters?"

"Oh no," she replied. "Everything is fine, I just wanted to say hello and introduce you to Jaelle. Her father died three years ago so she will have to live here with me. I needed to ask if that would present any difficulties. And please call me Stephanie when we aren't downstairs in the school."

The most feared professor in Hogwart's history just stood there and stared at the vision standing in front of him. Merlin! This woman is beautiful he thought. Gathering himself together he replied, "Only if you call me Severus. And of course she can stay here with you, a few of the students will stay here anyway. When she is old enough to go to the regular school she will be in one of the houses as will Harry, but she will still be able to stay with you whenever she wants."

In the meantime the two children were in the kitchen gorging on biscuits and hot chocolate. Jaelle looked at Harry and asked if any other children lived there. "No," he replied, "not right now, but when the term starts the castle will be full of kids, and a few of the kids who go to school in this building will stay here too. Are you as excited about going to school as I am?" he asked.

Jaelle looked sad and said "No, I don't want to go to school. I wish I didn't have to. None of the other children in my old nursery school liked me because I was different. I'm magical, and I'm a Rom."

Seeing that Harry looked bewildered she continued, "people don't like the Roma, they call us gypsies and they think that we will steal from them. Some of the people do things that they shouldn't, but not all of the Roma are like that. I would never steal from anyone, nor would I cheat them. If I told someone's fortune I would only tell the truth. And I never mean to break things with my magic, it just happens sometimes when I get upset."

Seeing that his new friend was on the verge of tears Harry said, "Hey, it's ok. I would like to be your friend. I think you're pretty and you are very nice. And I've broken things with accidental magic too. That's what they call it when things happen because you're upset, it isn't your fault you know."

Their parents came to see what they were up to and found the two children laughing and talking as if they had known each other all of their lives.

"Goodness, Jaelle doesn't usually makes friends with anyone, and certainly not this quickly. I can see that this is going to be good for her," exclaimed Stephanie. Looking at her daughter she said, "Darling, it is time for us to go back to our quarters. It is already past your bed-time and we need to be up early in the morning."

And so, after receiving and accepting an invitation to a small birthday dinner for Harry the next evening the two most beautiful females in Hogwarts took their leave of the two most bedazzled males in Hogwarts.


	13. Chapter 12: Turning Into

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed, wish it had, but it hasn't, she still owns it, I still want to

Thanks once again to AngelAuthor14. Don't know what I would do without her suggestions.

Turning Into

Harry's birthday started with Severus being summoned to Dumbledore's office. Stepping out of the fireplace, he was greeted by the sight of Sirius Black sitting on the comfortable, squishy couch. He was extremely thin, very pale, and his eyes had a haunted look in them. Snape just looked at him, he wasn't glaring, but he wasn't smiling either.

"Come in Severus," smiled Dumbledore. "We have some things to talk about and I wanted to do it early so you can spend the day with your son."

Severus glanced over at Sirius, expecting an explosion but Sirius was looking at him strangely. He stood up and walked up to his old enemy and put out his hand. "Severus I owe you several apologies for several things over the years." With a wicked grin he continued, "not everything, you understand, but for some things." He sat back down with a bang.

Snape almost smiled at the confusing speech coming from the head of the pureblood Black family. He turned to Merlin and asked, "how did you free him? Does he know about Harry?"

Merlin chuckled and replied, "Oh, I just had a little talk with Minister Fudge. You know, I believe that very soon someone will call for a general election. It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see Arthur Weasley in the office in the very near future. But to continue, Sirius was in such a bad way that I had to take him straight to St.Mungos where he has been for all this time. And yes, he is aware that you are Harry's legal father, Severus."

Sirius stood again, "Severus, I was upset when I first heard about the situation, but I'm not as hot-headed as I used to be. Having dementors as roommates will make you grow up sooner or later, and it's mostly sooner. Everyone thought that I was never coming out of prison and Harry had to have a father. But Severus, please don't revoke my right to be his Godfather."

At this Snape turned to the two older wizards and yelled "OKAY, WHO SNITCHED MY POLYJUICE POTION? THIS CAN'T BE SIRIUS BLACK!!"

At this Albus and Merlin laughed out loud. "I assure you that it is my dear boy", laughed Albus.

After Severus told Sirius that he was indeed to remain as Godfather he went on to explain that although Harry could and did talk, it was not a frequent occurance. "Of course," he said, "you can communicate with him without spoken words. He talks to me more that way than aloud. He is an extremely bright young boy and his magic is amazing. We have not done tests on his magical core as of yet, but they will be done when he is a little older."

Sirius looked thoughtful. "You know, I don't know if Harry will remember me. It has been a long time, and he was very young. Do you think I could come to his birthday dinner this evening?" After being assured that he was welcome he was about to go to the room that Dumbledore had asked a house elf to make ready for him when the Headmaster stopped him.

"Just one more minute please Sirius. I'm calling a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix this evening after Harry's dinner. Both of you need to be there."

Snape returned to his quarters to find Harry jumping up and down with excitement. "I'm five years old Daddy," he yelled. Laughing, Severus picked him up and kissed his forehead. "I know you are, my boy. Do you want your birthday gift before or after breakfast?"

Receiving the answer he had expected he called Dobby and asked him to bring Harry's gift. He disappeared and in a moment he and Daisy both appeared and Dobby was holding a large box with a silver ribbon on top. Harry, with eyes as big as saucers, reached for the box and setting it down upon the floor he pulled off the lid. He looked down at the furry little face, and blue eyes of a pure white puppy. He squealed in delight and picked the fuzz ball up from the box. Looking up at his Father with a shining face he smiled. Severus heard a voice in his head telling him how much he loved the gift and how much he loved his Daddy.

Harry and his Dad spent the morning flying together. Harry could go higher now and loved scaring Snape with loops and tricks. Watching him the man could see James in his son and, for some reason, it didn't bother him as he had thought that it would. He found himself happy with the fact that Harry was happy, and that he was his son.

They went back inside and Harry took a nap under Daisy's watchful eye while Severus did some reading in front of the fire. They spent a quiet afternoon together and went down to the Great Hall where Harry found a huge cake and lots of presents. He noticed a man standing in the crowd of professors by the head table looking at him. He thought he had seen him somewhere, but he didn't know where. The man walked towards him and went down on one knee so that he would be on the little boy's level.

"Hello Harry, do you remember me?" When the child shook his head the man continued, "I'm your Uncle Padfoot, Harry. I'm your Godfather."

Suddenly Harry remembered, he remembered this man and his Daddy wrestling on the floor and laughing. He remembered this man turning into a big black dog and taking rides on his back. Harry smiled, nodded and threw his arms around his Godfather's neck as the others watched with lumps in their throats.

When Severus and Harry returned to their quarters after the gifts had been opened, and the cake had been eaten, they heard the puppy whining from his box in Harry's room. Harry ran to pick him up and hugged his wriggling little body. "Dad, do you think he is lonely without his brothers and sisters?" he asked.

"He could be son, but he will forget about them in a day or two," Snape replied. "He may stay in your room with you tonight, but under no circumstances are you to allow him on the bed." Transfiguring a sock into a small bed for the puppy he placed it beside the fireplace and told Harry that Blue, which is the name the boy had given the new pet, could sleep there.

After Harry was asleep in his bed with Blue asleep in his bed by the fire, Severus left and went to Dumbledore's office. Most of the members of the Order were there, as was Merlin.

Dumbledore stood and said, "All right everyone, we need to get started. There are some startling events that you all need to be aware of. I'm sure that all of you have heard that Sirius has been cleared of all charges relating to the deaths of James and Lily, and that Peter Pettigrew has been charged."

"For the past several months there has been an increasing parade of Death Eaters turning themselves in to the Ministry. They all told such a strange story that the Department of Mysteries was called in to investigate, and the results were staggering. It seems that not one of these people joined Voldermort willingly. It appears that somehow the Dark Lord placed an extremely ancient, and forgotten curse on the ones he wanted and it had an effect similar to the Imperius. It is as if the person cursed is hypnotized. When he activates the mark on their arm they change into Deatheaters. After a few hours the spell eases off and they do not have any recollection of anything they have done. As I understand it, there are a few people who cannot be affected by this curse, or by hypnosis. Severus is one, so are Bellatrix Lastrange and Lucius Malfoy. Bellatrix, Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew (everyone already knew he was still alive) are the only ones still loyal to him and Peter only stays because he knows he cannot return to our world."

"We have also discovered that Voldemort is probably in a forest in Albania. He tried to create horcruxes so that he could not die. The magic that he used to split his soul combined with the killing curse that rebounded when he tried to kill Harry, killed the pieces he split off and it is slowly killing his magical core. He is incurably insane now and when his magical core dies so will he. As his magical strength lessened so did the power of the curse placed on the ones with the dark mark. When these people discovered what had been done to them and knew what had been done to innocent people because of things they were forced to do they came to turn themselves in to the authorities. Some of them may have to go to prison for a short sentence, but most of these unfortunates will be given amnesty."

"Hopefully now that we know about where he is he will be caught. We will still have to be vigilant, the three with him are extremely dangerous, but we are not going to have to worry about Voldermort again. It is indeed a happy day for the world."

"But what of the prophecy?" called Molly Weasley, a short, stout redhead.

Merlin answered, "Nothing is set in stone, not even a prophecy. A prophecy is just a vision of what could happen if the circumstances are right. Think for a moment, if Voldermort had not been told about the prophecy he would have had no reason to attack the Potters and he would not have cast the killing curse at their son."

Seeing regret, guilt, and grief mirrored on the former potions professor's face he continued, " Severus, you were fated to tell him, just as it was Fate that led him to attempt to create horcruxes. Prophecies do not always come true but Fate will not be changed."

Everyone stayed after the meeting to talk about everything that they had been told. They were trying to comprehend the fact that they did not have to live in fear anymore and there would be no dark mark floating above some poor muggle's house again. Voldermort's reign of death and terror was finally over. Slowly they drifted apart and returned to their homes.

When Severus opened the door of Harry's room he was expecting to have to take Blue out of his master's bed and return him to his own. He walked over to the bed and saw immediately that it was empty. His heart pounding, he looked around them room and saw not one, but two puppies asleep by the fire. With shaking hands he picked up a little black puppy. When the puppy opened sleeping eyes the unbelieving man saw that they were Lily green. He looked again and noticed a white mark on the puppy's head, a white lightening bolt. This puppy was his son!

Harry looked back at his Dad and immediately he was a little boy again. "Dad, he was crying because he missed his family. You told me not to bring him into bed with me so I had to go to his bed."

Silently Severus shook his head. "Turning into animals, that was that book you were reading a few days ago. You did it from reading that book! I can see that I am going to have to keep an eye on what books you read from now on young man."

Tucking the little boy back into his own bed, this time with Blue beside him, he returned to the living area where he spent another lengthy night staring at the fire.


	14. Chapter 13: Changes

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter's world, not even his neighbourhood :(

Thank you to AngelAuthor14, my beta and also to the folks who reviewed and pointed out my mistakes. I do appreciate all of you.

Changes

Morning finally arrived and Severus, after checking that Harry was still sleeping, left early for the Great Hall. He was the first to arrive and the house elves promptly served his breakfast. He wasn't really hungry, but was grateful for the coffee. Shortly after he had arrived Stephanie appeared. She too was looking for coffee.

"Good morning Severus," she greeted him. "What brings you down so early in the morning?"

Severus told her about Harry's changing into a puppy the previous evening, and about the other things he had done. "I have a hard time realizing that he can actually read, and understand, the books I've found him engrossed in, but when he puts what he is reading to practical use it is unlike anything I've ever seen, Stephanie."

The attractive doctor looked thoughtful as she replied, "I believe that Harry is going to continue to amaze you. He is obviously extremely intelligent and when a subject interests him he soaks it up like a sponge. This is only part of the explanation for his ability to perform advanced magic though, I think that a large portion of it is that he has been raised here in Hogwarts. No one has admonished him for underage magic because it isn't an issue here in the castle; therefore, he doesn't realize that he is not supposed to be able to do it or that it is anything out of the ordinary."

She paused and looked at Severus for a moment before continuing.

"You will notice that Harry has had no problem with accidental magic occurrences, but almost every other wizard or witch child does. That is because the children of the magical world are told that they are too young to perform magic, that their magical core isn't strong enough. The fact that their cores are strong enough is the reason for the accidental magic. The magic has to have an outlet, therefore they have outbursts."

While the two were engrossed in their discussion the rest of the staff had appeared. Severus and Stephanie decided to finish their discussion later in the day and applied themselves to breakfast, which Snape decided he wanted after all. A few minutes later several owls appeared and one of them dropped a copy of the Prophet in front of them.

Severus glanced at the paper and promptly forgot all about breakfast. The headlines read:

**Sirius Black Declared Innocent!  
Minister of Magic Under Investigation!  
**

He immediately turned to the article which read:

_It has been disclosed to the Daily Prophet that Sirius Black has been in St. Mungos since January, 1982. He was taken out of Azkaban Prison by none other than Merlin himself and was immediately hospitalized for injuries and emotional problems which were a direct result of his stay in Azkaban._

_In further stunning developments the Wizengamot and Merlin have called for an investigation into the prosecution of Lord Black, who is the head of the Black family, one of the oldest and most influential families of Britian's magical community. It appears that Lord Black was never brought to trial, and this fact has been the subject of one of the biggest cover-ups in the history of the wizarding world.  
_

_Lord Black's innocence was discovered when scores of Death Eaters turned themselves in to the Ministry of Magic and it was brought to light that Peter Pettigrew is still alive and was the one who betrayed James and Lily Potter. Pettigrew was also the one responsible for the deaths of 13 muggles, an act that has also been credited to Lord Black._

_The investigation is expected to reach all the way to the Minister of Magic's office. Further developments will be reported as they occur.  
_

The next day's headlines read:

**Cornelius Fudge removed from office!**

**General Election Called**!

Severus skipped hurriedly to the article, his fingers shaking slightly.

_Cornelius Fudge has been removed from the office of Minister of Magic. The Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Albus Dumbledore, will fill the post until a new Minister is elected next week.  
_

To Severus' delight the following week the headlines read:

**Arthur Weasley Elected Minister by a Landslide!**

The article read:

_Arthur Weasley, who has worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department of the Ministry of Magic for the past 15 years, has been elected the new Minister of Magic. Mr. Weasley, who is well known for his love of all things muggle, says he plans to work towards better understanding between the muggle and magical communities._

_Mr. Weasley is the husband of Molly Weasley, formerly Molly Prewitt. He and his wife are the parents of seven children and have been instrumental in the fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named._

_And the good news didn't stop there because the very next day the headlines read:_

**Voldemort is Finished!!  
Celebrations Rock the Magical World!**

_The magical world is celebrating today after receiving word that Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldermort, has been captured in the magical forest located in the south of Albania. With him were Bellatrix Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and Peter Pettigrew, all of whom committed suicide rather than being captured._

_Because of extremely dark magic performed by the Dark Lord, he has lost his magic. According to Dr. Byron Stoner, of the North Britain Hospital for the Incurably Insane, the affects of dark magic employed by Voldermort are such that his magical core is dying and when the core dies so will Voldermort._

_Fireworks are planned tonight all over the country. Tomorrow has been designated a national holiday and there will be a special ceremony at the Ministry of Magic where amnesty will be granted to the unfortunates that were cursed and used for such terrible things by Tom Riddle.  
_


	15. Chapter 14: A New Era

The day before the opening day of the new pre-school found Severus and his staff in the cafeteria of the new wing

Nope, I still don't own it

Thanks to my beta reader, AngelAuthor14

A New Era

The day before the opening day of the new pre-school found Severus and his staff in the cafeteria of the new wing. There was a large pot of coffee, a larger pot of tea and a plate of pastries.

"Welcome to all of you," he started the meeting. "I'm sure you are all wondering exactly what we are doing and I've got to tell you that I am too. We are going to be teaching in a brand new way, one that has not been tried in the magical world before, and it is going to be a challenge to each and every one of us. It won't always be easy, we are going to have to forget a lot of what we have learned, but I believe that the results will be spectacular."

"As you are all aware by this point, we are going to be seeing a new type of student and we are going to have to adjust our teaching accordingly. We will not have very many structured classes, mainly reading and arithmetic, and even those won't be structured in the way we have been used to. These students are going to need to work at their own pace, and I believe that you are going to find it will be a faster pace than you are used to seeing. Are there any questions so far?"

Constance Green raised her hand and receiving a smile and nod from Snape she asked, "How will it be structured then?"

Severus smiled, "It won't be structured at all. As I said, we will teach all of the children reading and arithmetic but other than that they will know what they wish to study and our job will be to simply guide and help them. Some of them, such as Harry, will already know how to read; some will know math and those students will probably not show very much interest in the classes. If so, we will give them a test and if they pass it the classes won't be required. There will of course be rules. You will find that most of our students don't care for rules. But if they are explained in a forthright and honest manner I believe that the majority of the children will abide by them. These new students value honesty very highly and will not tolerate dishonesty, whether in others or themselves. And now I am going to turn the floor over to Dr. Brown."

Stephanie stood and addressed the teachers, "As of this morning we have ten children enrolled in our new pre-school. They are much younger than the other Hogwarts students and will require closer supervision. You will probably find though that these children are more self sufficient than most children their ages are."

"We do have two seven-year-old twins coming to us that will definitely require supervision. Fred and George Weasley would normally have stayed in the primary school that they have been attending, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley want to send them to us. I believe these two young men are Indigos, but they have not done well in the muggle school. They have been labelled disruptive and troublesome. It has been suggested that they may be ADHD. I have talked to the authorities at the school, to their parents, and to the boys themselves. These boys are definitely middle children; they have three older siblings and two younger. When they started experiencing outbursts of accidental magic they found that it brought attention their way. When they started using the accidental magic to play pranks on their teachers, classmates, and family members it brought them even more attention. Fred and George are extremely bright boys and the poor muggle teachers didn't know what had hit them. You are going to have to be on your toes around them."

"The youngest Weasley boy, Ron, will be attending our school too. The Weasley family has not had very much money until recently and Ron has had a hard time realizing that money is not the most important thing in life. He is a good kid, and once he realizes that being poor does not make him inferior he will be fine. There is also a younger child, a daughter, but she will not be attending until next year."

"I'm sure you have all met my daughter Jaelle and the Headmaster's son, Harry Potter. Jaelle is a quiet child and so is Harry. Harry however is another one we need to observe carefully. He is extremely intelligent and very advanced for his age. He has been reading advanced textbooks from his father's library since he was a year old. Reading them, comprehending them, and performing the spells he reads about. Harry performs transfiguration, levitation, and has already become an animagus. All of this has been done on his own after reading books about the subjects. He also performs wandless magic."

"Hermione Granger is a muggle born witch who is also extremely intelligent. I really do not believe that she will do well in this kind of learning environment, I am afraid that she needs the more structured classroom. We shall have to see."

"Neville Longbottom will also be coming tomorrow. He is the son of Alice and Frank Longbottom, who are incurably insane because of the torture they endured at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange. Neville has very little self-confidence and very low self-esteem. He is a bright child, but he doesn't believe that he is. Neville is very interested in Herbology and given the proper encouragement will probably show skill in potions."

"We also have Sean Smith, a muggle born whose parents are aware of and accept the magical community, Cora Wright and Draco Malfoy. It is very possible that Draco may be a problem for a while. His mother tried to keep him away from the dark things that went on in their home but his father did not always permit it. He has seen much more than any child should ever see and it has left some scars. I believe though that with enough encouragement Draco could turn out to be one of our more outstanding students."

Stephanie sat back down and Severus stood to bring the meeting to a close. As he was getting ready to release the teachers to go about their business Dumbledore appeared in the doorway.

"Good morning everyone, I hope you are all as excited about tomorrow as I am. We are going to see some incredible things from our new students and I cannot wait to see them. But I came down to tell you that our new Minister of Magic is giving an important speech this evening at the Ministry of Magic Building and I would very much like to see all of you there. I believe that he is going to have some surprises for us."

After Dumbledore left the teachers stood to leave. Severus stopped Stephanie as she was on her way out the door. "Would you like to accompany me to the speech this evening?" he asked. "Jaelle can stay with Harry, Daisy and Dobby are excellent babysitters."

Stephanie agreed to the plan and returned to her office. Several people remarked later about the silly grin that was plastered on Headmaster Snape's face for the rest of the day.

Arriving at the Ministry building that evening they found the room filled to capacity. Severus, seeing Dumbledore seated in the first row with the other members of the Wizengamot, waved and received a wink in return. As they took their seats Arthur Weasley walked out upon the stage and stood behind the podium.

"Good evening everyone, thank you for taking time to come down here tonight. I will try not to take too much of your time, but there are several important things that I need to speak to you about this evening. I have spent the past few weeks meeting with several people and with Merlin, the Council (no one knew what this Council was of course), and the Wizengamot. It is time for our world to change. We have become stagnant and if we do not make some changes our world is going to get smaller and smaller until it is gone."

"It is time for all of the members of our world to receive the same rights that we have reserved for ourselves. Being a wizard or a witch does not mean that one is superior to the other magical creatures that inhabit our world. The giants, the centaurs, the vampires, the goblins, and the werewolves are not inferior just because they are different. Difference is not a bad thing, nor should it be used to keep any person, magical or otherwise subservient to us. These members of our world should be able to hold jobs, to vote in our elections, and to live where they wish, just as we do."

He paused and studied the faces in front of him before continuing.

"A man's worth should not be based upon his looks or his family name. A man's worth should be based upon the kind of person, or goblin, or werewolf, or vampire, or giant, or centaur he is. These races have just as many intelligent, talented, kind, good members as our does. Why should we hold ourselves above them and despise them as inferior to ourselves? Why should they be hated because they are different? Why should a man who was bitten by a werewolf as a child be forbidden to be the guardian of his best friend's orphaned son? Why should a vampire not be allowed to work for the Ministry?"

There were a few murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

"Our world is coming out of one of the darkest eras in its history and this dark era was brought about by hate and ignorance and bigotry. The other magical races do not trust us, and who can blame them? This has got to change and we are the ones who have to bring about this change. Never again should fear rule our world. All of the citizens of the magical community will be treated equally from this moment on. No one will be denied their rights because we are afraid that given equal rights they will rise in the world and become as good as we are. They are already as good as we are and each and every one should have and will have the right to go to school, and to work, and to live where ever and how ever they wish."

Arthur took a deep breath.

"Because of hatred and fear we have hidden our world from the muggle world. This is not the dark ages; we need no longer fear the witch-hunts. We are so concerned about the blood lines, well let me tell you, I am a pure blood, but that does not make me one iota better than the muggle that I see when I go to London, or the half-blood, or the muggle-born that works down the hall from me."

There was another brief pause.

"It is time for us to start emerging from the shadows. We can learn much from the muggle world and we have much to teach them. I am asking all of you tonight to support your Ministry of Magic as we work to make our world a better place for everyone."

With this Arthur Weasley turned around and walked off of the stage. For a moment the atrium was completely silent and then Albus Dumbledore stood and started clapping. Soon everyone was on their feet clapping and cheering for Arthur Weasley, the new Minister of Magic.


	16. Chapter 15: School Daze

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone that you recognize 

Thanks go to AngelAuthor14 for putting up with me (not to mention being a great beta)

Thanks also to Mikee for giving me the idea for bringing Remus home

As Severus and Stephanie were leaving the Ministry building Dumbledore approached them and asked them to attend a staff meeting in the Great Hall as soon as they returned to the castle. After checking on the children, who were having a good time with the two house elves, they made their way to the Great Hall where they joined the rest of the staff.

After everyone was settled Albus stood up and with a twinkle in his blue eyes said, "I'm sure you all know why we are here. The new policies of the Ministry of Magic are going to make a vast difference in the student body here at Hogwarts. We are going to have a few more new students than we had anticipated..."

"I'M NOT HAVING ANY FREAKS IN MY CLASSROOM!" Professor Green interrupted. "Why, if we do as Weasley says we will be teaching goblins and vampires and werewolves, and who knows what other kind of creatures, I won't do it!" he yelled.

Albus looked at him and the look in his eyes frightened several of the teachers who saw it. They had seldom seen their beloved Headmaster without a twinkle in his eye, and never with the cold, angry look that was in them now.

"That is fine, Professor Green, but they will be attending Hogwarts; however, I will not knowingly have a bigot teaching in my school. I suggest that you gather your things and leave the castle. If anyone else feels the same way they need to do the same thing."

Professor Green stormed out of the Great Hall followed by his wife, Constance, who had the grace to look ashamed.

"Now, as I was saying, this will be a different experience for all of us but I firmly believe that a child is a child, no matter what race they are. They should have been welcome at Hogwarts from the beginning but because of the prejudices of some of the ignorant among us they have not been. Different experiences are often some of the best. If any of you need help with the transition it will be provided, just let me know."

"Now, tomorrow looks to be an even bigger day than we had anticipated. I know you are all tired so please feel free to go to your beds. I'm sorry Headmaster Snape, but I have to ask you to stay after the meeting, we have a few more things to talk about."

Severus remained seated while everyone but Albus left the room.

Once they were alone Albus spoke, "Severus, I received an owl from Remus Lupin. As you know, he left Britain after James and Lily were killed. He was devastated, because of their deaths and because he was not allowed to be Harry's guardian. Apparently he has been living in Italy for the past few years where he met a potions master who developed a potion for his lycanthropy. The potion does not stop his changing but it does enable him to keep his state of mind. He would like to return home but he doesn't know how he would get the potion every month. I am asking you if you would be willing to brew it for him."

Severus leaned back in his chair and gazed at the night sky in the ceiling for a few minutes while memories chased through his mind. He remembered how the marauders taunted him, but he also remembered that Remus usually did not participate in the teasing. He also remembered a certain night in the Shrieking Shack, but had to admit that Remus had nothing to do with sending him into danger that long ago night. He remembered how the werewolf looked every month after the full moon and realized that the physical effects of the change were undoubtedly ageing him prematurely even then.

Finally he looked at the man that he respected more than anyone else and asked, "Albus, does Lupin know that I have adopted Harry?"

"No, he doesn't, nor is he aware of Sirius's release from Azkaban or of the fact the Peter was the one who betrayed his friends. I am not even sure that he knows about Voldermort yet, but I am sure that Remus will be able to adjust to the changes."

When the potion master assured him that he would be willing to make the potion once a month Albus continued, "And now we need to talk about staff matters. I am going to ask Sirius to teach DADA, after all he used to be an Auror so I'm confident that he can handle the job, but you lost a teacher tonight too. How would you feel about asking Remus to fill the position? He certainly will be able to understand the magical creatures who choose to attend your school and he needs a job badly."

Severus chucked and replied, "Yes that could work out very well, providing that he can put aside his dislike of me, or at least contain it. I believe that he will be very good with our children."

The following morning the entire staff was in the basement awaiting the new students. One by one they started coming through the floo, and all of them brought trunks, indicating that they were planning to reside there. It was organized chaos! A few of the children wanted to eat breakfast, some of them wanted to see the dormitories, and some of them just wanted to run amok around the large room. Of course, all of the parents seemed to have urgent matters to discuss with the Headmaster, all at the same time.

Finally it was calm. The children were in the classrooms, the parents had departed and Severus had collapsed on the comfortable couch in his office and received a cup of tea from one of the house elves, when a knock came on his door. When he responded, "Come in," a thin woman entered the room.

"Headmaster Snape, my name is Julie Hanover. My daughter, Elizabeth, is five years old and unfortunately, she is a vampire, and has been since she was attacked when she was two. I attended the Minister's speech last night and it gave me hope for the first time that Beth would be able to attend school. She cannot help her condition and she is a very sweet child. I just want her to have the education she will need to be able to live in our world."

Mrs. Hanover left smiling ten minutes later after being assured that Beth could start attending the following week. Snape explained that he would need that long to make arrangements for the special needs children.

In the meantime, everyone in the classroom knew that the Weasley twins had arrived. Severus, having decided to visit, stepped into a mini-riot. The teachers all had green hair and buck teeth, there were birds swooping all over the room, the little girls were all under the tables crying, and the little boys, including his own son, were in the corner laughing at the little girls. To make matters worse Blue was running around in circles trying to catch the birds flying above his head and the teachers' chairs had sticking charms on them, thus preventing the poor souls to put matters to rights.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?" yelled the irate Headmaster.

Every child, with the exception of the culprits, in the room immediately pointed at two identical red haired boys who were standing on the other side of the room laughing uproariously while trying their best to look innocent. Snape just shook his head; he should have known he thought. Of course it would be the Weasley twins. After dealing with the upset teachers, the crying little girls, the birds, and the puppy he grabbed a twin's ear with each hand and led them out of the room.

Arriving at Dr. Brown's office Severus told her what had just occurred and left them to her tender mercies. Returning to his office he could only wonder what he had gotten himself into. Maybe teaching dunderheads wasn't so bad after all he couldn't help thinking.

A few minutes later Dumbledore called and requested his presence so he flooed directly to the Headmaster's office where he found Albus with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

"Severus, Remus has agreed to be a teacher in your school," he said, "and I have also informed him about Harry's circumstances."

"Yes Severus," Remus spoke up. "It broke my heart when I was not allowed to raise Harry, but there was nothing anyone could do about it at that time. I'm glad that he was removed from the Dursleys; I always thought that placing him with those people was a great mistake. But I need to ask you just one question. Do you love him in spite of the fact that James was his father?"

Severus looked the old werewolf straight in the eye and replied "Remus, I love Harry more than I love anyone or anything in this world. I would glad lay down my life for him and it doesn't matter to me who his father is. I intend to tell him all about his father when he is a little older and I can think of no one any better to help me do that than you and Sirius. As a matter of fact, why don't you let Sirius take you down to the pre-school and introduce you to him?"

When the two last marauders had departed Severus looked at Albus and said, "How do you do it Albus? I've only been at it for one day and I am walking around in a daze, as is my entire staff. The Weasley twins have arrived, and I've never been so weary in my life."

Albus just chuckled and informed him that this was just the beginning of the good times and as he sat sucking on a lemon drop and laughing at the his poor colleague, the new Headmaster of Hogwarts Magical Pre-School walked out of the office in a daze.

A/N: I don't have a group, but have built a web site for this story. The link is on my profile. Check it out, and leave a message on the message board if you would like to. I'd love to hear from you.


	17. Chapter 16: Evil Never Dies

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, darn it,

Thanks again to my beta reader, AngelAuthor14, check out her stories

Evil Never Dies

Sirius and Remus entered the pre-school wing slowly. Remus was understandably nervous about seeing Harry after four years. Entering the classroom they spotted a head of black messy hair across the room.

Harry looked up and spotted Padfoot and started to run over to him. Noticing the man beside Sirius the boy stopped with a puzzled look on his face. Who was this man? He looked familiar and suddenly Harry remembered him playing with his Daddy and Uncle Padfoot. Because they did not want to scare the little boy that they both cared so much for the two men had stopped when they saw the look on Harry's face. As they stood and watched a huge smile appeared on the small face and Harry hurtled across the room into Remus' arms.

He hugged him and suddenly Remus heard a voice inside his head "Uncle Moony!! You came!! I love you!!"

Remus had not yet been filled in about the reason for the pre-school so he wasn't prepared for the telepathic communication but he didn't miss a beat. "Of course I came Harry, I'm just sorry that I couldn't come before. You look so much like your father, and you have your mother's eyes. I'm here to stay now, I won't leave you again."

Harry looked at his Uncle Moony and there were tears in Lily's green eyes. Remus heard the small voice again, "A bad man came, Uncle Moony. He killed my daddy and mummy. Then he hurt me. Then I was with bad people, they hated me. And then my new daddy came and brought me to Hogwarts."

Hugging the small body Remus said, "I know your new daddy, Harry. I went to school with him, and guess what? I'm going to teach here at your pre-school so we can see each other every single day. How about that?"

Harry's smile came out again like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. He took Remus and Sirius by the hands and led them to the table where he had a small laboratory. Remus picked up the book that was lying on the table. "Advanced Potions and How to Brew Them, that is an awfully big book for a little boy," he said.

Mary Wilderberg, the pretty young witch who was in charge of the classroom walked over and said, "Harry reads very advanced books. If he has a question, which is not very often, he will come to me and I explain things to him. Right now he is brewing polyjuice potion. He told me that he wants to use it instead of a costume for Halloween."

At this time Severus, who had come in unobserved, spoke up, "Harry has been reading and comprehending my textbooks since he was a year old. He is also very advanced in magic. He has a very strong magical core. But come, let me show you to your quarters and get you settled."

Remus was having a hard time adjusting to all of this. Harry had not uttered one word, but he communicated anyway, the child was reading advanced books, brewing a potion that was notoriously difficult to brew, and Severus Snape was actually acting like a human being! It was, he thought, like waking up in an alternate universe.

Sirius, grinning at the confusion on his old friend's face, offered to take Remus to his quarters and after promising to meet Snape in his office after he got his things unpacked the two friends left. Severus was turning to leave as well when two red-haired whirlwinds ran into the room with a small busy haired girl right behind them.

"You go right back in there and fix it!" she yelled at the grinning boys. "You can't just turn Neville's toad into a butterfly! He can't even catch it! Not even with the net! You go fix it right now!"

By this time the twins had seen the Headmaster frowning at them and the grins had disappeared. "Aw, Hermione, we were just playing, course we'll go fix it."

Severus just shook his head and left. Those two boys were going to be a big problem if he could not figure out how to harness all of that energy into a more constructive outlet, but he wasn't sure yet just how to go about it. Upon entering his office he floo-called to Stephanie's office and asked her to come join him for lunch. When they had finished eating the meal provided by the elves Severus told her about the incident with the twins and asked her advice.

"Fred and George are both extremely intelligent, Severus. We just have to find something that really interests them and try to channel their intelligence and their energy into that, whatever it is. They are the oldest students in the pre-school, so why don't we try giving them some responsibilities and see how that turns out."

Severus thought about it for a few minutes and agreeing, he summoned the two boys to his office. The boys came into the room hesitantly, thinking they were going to be punished for the prank they had pulled on Neville.

"Boys, Dr. Brown and I have been discussing things and we need some help. I am putting you two in charge of peace keeping in the pre-school. Your father has decreed that the other magical races are to be allowed to be an equal part of our world so we are going to be having children who are different. I want you to watch out for them, and make sure none of the other children pick on them. If you see anything like that happening please see if you can stop it, if not, please go to one of the teachers so that they can stop it. This is very important because if these children are treated well then more children like them will come to school here and their parents will trust your father's Ministry more."

One of the twins, Severus was not sure which, spoke up and assured him that they would be happy to help. As they took their leave both were smiling and walking with their shoulders squared, looking very important and very pleased with themselves.

Severus and Stephanie were looking at one another, hoping that they had not just made a huge mistake when the air started to shimmer and Merlin appeared. "Well done Severus, well done. That is the best thing you could have done for those two young men. Being responsible for the other, younger, children will give them both a sense of self-worth. These children need that. They know that there is something different about themselves, but they don't know what it is, or what to do about it. Becoming involved with the school is going to be a help to all of them, in various ways. When these children leave our school and go on to the older school they will be comfortable with themselves and will be ready, when they leave Hogwarts, to achieve their goals, whatever those may be."

He paused to draw breath.

"However, this is not what I came to discuss with you. It has come to our attention that there are rumours of trouble coming to us from Europe. Albus has left the school to talk to Arthur Weasley about it. As soon as he returns he will want to speak to you. In the meantime, please keep all of the students inside this wing. The castle is on lock down too, and will remain so until we know whether these rumours are true. Voldermort is no longer a threat, indeed he is on the brink of death, but evil never dies. The lust for power will always find a willing host and unfortunately it looks as if that is what we are going to be contending with."

Later that evening Severus, Remus, Minerva, Sirius and Merlin joined Albus in his office. The old Headmaster looked tired, and older than they were used to seeing him look. He looked around and sticking his head into the fireplace he called the pre-school and asked Stephanie to join them. After she had arrived and taken a seat the old wizard spoke.

"It appears that we have a problem. I have been informed that there is a new threat coming towards us from Europe. For the last month there have been attacks on several muggle villages and on some magical communities. The attackers are wizards and witches from Europe and they seem to follow directions from one Count Vladimir".

"This Count is angry at our new policies concerning the other magical races. He feels that anyone but purebloods are not fit to live, much as Voldermort did. Unlike Voldermort, however, this Count is pureblood from a very old family."

Looking at Severus he continued, "Count Vladimir has, unfortunately, become aware of young Harry. He considers the child a threat to him and his plan to take over the British Magical Community."

Seeing the younger man turn white he hastened to add, "Fortunately, very few people know that you adopted the boy, Severus, and the ones who do will never give the information to anyone. They have all been notified of the threat and have given wizards' oaths to keep it a secret. The wards on the Ministry have been strengthened and as soon as we finish talking we are going to strengthen the ones on the castle, the pre-school wing and the grounds. For the time being that will be sufficient and if we need stronger methods later we will employ them. I want you to instruct Dobby and Daisy that at the first sign of any danger they are to take Harry away to a safe place. House elves have ancient, very powerful magic and those two are among the most powerful of their kind."

"I would like Sirius and Remus to act as body guards for the child too. They are both employed here at the school so they won't have any problem watching over him."

The educators sat late into the night discussing how to keep all of the students, at both of the schools, safe.


	18. Chapter 17: The Animagi

I do not own Harry Potter or his world, J.K. Rowling is the lucky one

Special thanks to AngelAuthor 14

The Animagi

The next few days were fairly peaceful in the pre-school. The Weasley twins seemed to be taking their responsibilities seriously and were often seen overseeing the younger students as they worked on their various projects.

Every morning the children who needed reading lessons attended an hour-long class with Leon Snodgrass while the ones who could read were permitted to read whatever they liked in the larger room. Afternoons the children attended maths class for another hour and after that they all took a nap, with the exceptions of George and Fred, who actually made themselves useful during this time picking up toys and generally straightening up. The rest of the day the children were free to work on whatever they wanted within reason.

The wing itself was amazing; it added rooms if needed and even added a small greenhouse, which connected to the wing with a glass door for Neville Longbottom. Neville was interested almost exclusively in plants until Harry, who was still interested in potions, pointed out the fact that potions and Herbology were connected because of the many uses for plants when making potions. The two boys could usually be found either in the greenhouse or in the small laboratory that had been provided right next door. Brian Woodall kept a close eye on them while they were in the laboratory to make sure nothing or no one was blown to smithereens, while Laura Black helped them in the greenhouse.

The teachers were enjoying this method of teaching immensely. The children were amazing, most of them were extremely intelligent, and they were beginning to open up and their personalities were beginning to show.

Harry was still extremely quiet and spoke only rarely but he was not the only child who chose not to communicate verbally. Somehow the children were able to communicate with each other and none of them seemed to have trouble understanding the quiet ones.

Jaelle had one corner of the room set up with an easel and paint supplies. She jealously guarded her work and put it away in a locked cabinet when she wasn't working on it. Dr. Stephanie, as the children called her, advised Severus that she should be left alone and that she would show her work when she was ready.

Unfortunately, not all of the children were adjusting to this educational experience very well. Hermione Granger was very bright and well ahead of the other children but was having trouble interacting with the other children. They thought that she was too bossy and a know it all. The poor little girl didn't mean to come across that way it was just her personality. She started hanging out with Harry in Neville in the greenhouse and the laboratory however, and she was beginning to curb herself and it looked as if she was going to be able to fit in after all.

Ron Weasley was a different case however; he had not adjusted to the fact that his father was the Minister of Magic and after being poor all of his life the new money and status had gone to his head a little. One afternoon while playing a game of football on the lawn he ran head first into Draco Malfoy and sent him sprawling flat out on the ground.

Draco jumped up and yelled "Are you blind? What's the matter with you Weasley?"

Ron looked at him with a sneer on his face and informed him that he could just get out of the way from now on and that if he did not like it that was too bad because "My Father is the Minister of Magic, and I can do whatever I want."

Unfortunately for Mr. Weasley Severus and Stephanie happened to be standing right beside the window, which was open and heard this exchange. The next thing Ron knew he had been grabbed by the ear and escorted into the Headmaster's office.

"Would you like to repeat the remark you made to Mr. Malfoy to me, Mr. Weasley? "

Ron turned red and just looked down at his trainers. The headmaster waited a few minutes and when he got no reply he continued.

"I know that you are proud of your father, Ron, and well you should be but rest assured that your father would not be proud of you this afternoon. You need to adjust your thinking and your attitude and you need to do it immediately. As the son of the Minister of Magic you have to set an example for the other kids. Being a bully is not the way to do that and make no mistake, you most definitely cannot do whatever you want. Minister's sons can go to Azkaban too you know, it has happened before."

With tears rolling down his cheeks Ron begged, "Oh please, don't send me to Azkaban, Headmaster Snape. I'll be good, and I'll tell Draco that I'm sorry just please don't send me to Azkaban."

Hiding a smile Severus reassured him "No, I'm not going to send you anywhere Ron, but with that attitude you could end up there when you are older. I know your father and your mother, they are friends of mine and I am positive that they never told you anything to make you believe you were above the rules of common courtesy, or any rules for that manner. I am going to be watching you and I sincerely hope that we do not have to have this discussion again. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Weasley?"

Ron nodded his head and with a very small yes sir assured him that he definitely had and Severus waved his wand and produced a glass of juice. After the boy had finished the drink Snape escorted him to Stephanie's office.

"Dr. Brown, do you have time to have a talk with young Mr. Weasley? I believe that he could use someone to talk to for a while."

"Of course I will. Hello Ron, come make yourself comfortable. I always have time to talk

to our students. I'll take him back to his class afterwards, Headmaster."

The next morning Albus and Severus were sitting in the office of the pre-school when suddenly Leon came running through the door without knocking.

"Headmasters you must come quickly to the large classroom and see this!"

Both men jumped up and followed the agitated teacher to the classroom. Charlotte the pretty young nurse, had been in Stephanie's office, and hearing the commotion both of the witches followed them. Arriving in the room the startled adults found Blue and the black puppy, which Severus knew was Harry, running around yapping and playing. But there were also four more puppies, three kittens, and two baby wolves yapping, meowing and playing with them. And two red-headed woodpeckers were swooping all over the room.

The group stood there with their jaws on the floor. Finally Severus spoke, "I can't believe this. I was aware that Harry could do this, but all of the children? This is impossible! How can they have done it?"

"I would imagine that no one has ever told them that it was impossible, Headmaster. I believe you will find that when the children saw Harry having so much fun they wanted to have fun with him and just did it. It is amazing what the mind can do when it isn't restricted you know.


	19. Chapter 18: Trouble

Nope, I still have no claim to Harry Potter that British lady still does – sigh

Nope, I still have no claim to Harry Potter that British lady still does – sigh

Thanks to AngelAuthor14, the fastest beta reader in the world. Check out her stories

Trouble

It became a common sight in the pre-school wing to see the children gathered around one part of the room playing and learning together. Sometimes they would be gathered around one of the teachers and sometimes one student would be helping another with a favoured project.

As predicted, the children seemed to learn best when given the freedom to study the subjects that interested them.

Harry and Draco were both interested in the potions laboratory and spent much of their time in it. Neville was still interested in plants, almost to the exclusion of anything else. He was also interested in potions, but only because his beloved plants played such an important role in that subject. Draco and Neville could not read as well as Harry, in fact, they were just learning, so Harry would read about the potions and then explain what he had read to the other boys. In this way the three small boys began to be quite proficient in the laboratory, much to the amazement of the adults around them.

Ron had a very analytical mind and enjoyed solving problems and puzzles. His attitude had changed over the few weeks he had been at the school and he got along well with most of the children.

Jaelle loved to paint. She produced work much too advanced for a child her age and no one could understand where the talent came from, especially her Mother. The little girl had produced some work that was worthy of a fine art gallery, and she was getting better every day. When she painted she was in her own little world and it was as if the magic she had inside her little body was transferring itself to the canvas in front of her.

Hermione just loved to learn. She was thirsty for knowledge and soaked it up like a sponge. Sometimes she seemed to be a little bit of a know it all, but she didn't mean to be. It was just that when a subject came up that she had read about she wanted to share her knowledge.

There were new students coming into the school too. Beth, the little vampire girl, was attending now, as were two little boys who were werewolves (Headmaster Snape provided them with the same potion that he made for Remus Lupin every month), three goblin children, and there were also two house elf children whose parents worked in the kitchen in the castle.

The goblin children were teaching the other children about the properties and uses of silver, and the elf children were beginning to show the other children how to do some of their magic, which was different from the magic the children had been used to.

All of the children, with the exception of Hermione and the goblin children, loved to fly and were interested in Quidditch. Harry, Draco, Ron, and the twins had organized two teams, much to the amusement of the older students in the Castle and to everyone's surprise they rapidly became very good.

One afternoon Madame Hooch, who was in charge of the Quidditch matches, approached Severus with the idea of letting the children play an exhibition match before the next school match. This went over so well that it became a standard before every match.

The news from Europe was becoming more disturbing every day. Dumbledore and Severus kept an eye on the news and had several serious conversations about the new Dark Lord, as people were beginning to call Count Vladimir. Fortunately, very few people, other than the staff of Hogwarts, were aware that Severus had adopted Harry Potter. He was now Harry Snape, and as it had never been made public, only a handful of people knew where the child was. It was as if he had disappeared.

Vladimir had no reason to dislike Harry, but he believed that any child who could survive the killing curse was certainly going to be a danger to him and he was therefore determined to find him.

Count Vladimir did not control his followers with torture and death as Voldermort had. He was much smarter than Voldie had been, and was therefore more dangerous. He was the descendent of a very old, powerful, and wealthy family of wizards from the area now known as Germany. He was charismatic, handsome, and articulate. Some said that he hypnotized his followers, but he didn't really. He just spoke with such passion and fervour that they found themselves believing the things he said. They discovered that they didn't really like anyone but purebloods and fervently believed that the other races and the mixed bloods should be eradicated from the face of the earth.

Severus and Minerva were summoned to Dumbedore's office one afternoon the day before the Christmas Holiday where they found the Headmaster and Merlin looking very serious.

Dumbledore got right to the point, "Severus, sit down, I have news that you need to hear. I very much fear that Vladimir may soon find out where Harry has been all these years. The Minister has heard from a very reliable source that Professor Green and his wife have decided to go to Europe to join the ranks of the followers of Vladimir. He is still angry about being fired from his position and has obviously decided to exact revenge."

"And of course there is no way to stop him, it is not illegal to go on holiday is it?" replied Severus with bitterness in his own voice. "Albus, I will not let them get their hands on Harry, no matter where I have to take him I intend to keep him safe. Vladimir has no reason to want Harry, the child has done nothing to him."

Merlin, who had been silent until now said, "Severus, I believe it is time that we make another appearance in front of the Council. Albus, would you mind staying here this time to keep an eye on the school and particularly on young Mr. Snape?"

Receiving a nod of acceptance Merlin waved his wand and the two educators found themselves in the Council Hall once again. The entire Council was already seated, and Fate stood at the head of the table as before.

"Thank you for coming again, Minerva, Severus. We've been watching your progress and we have been impressed with what we see. We were right when we picked you to be his father, Severus, you have not disappointed us."

"Minerva, we appreciate the dedication you have shown toward getting the necessary things done to make the changes happen. We know that Albus asks much of you and we also know that you have never failed him."

"There are troubled times ahead for the Wizarding world and you are likely to be tested. Never be afraid of failure my friends, all that can be asked of you is your best."

"Severus, we know that you are worried about your son's safety. Rest assured that we have done much to protect him. You may not see it, but Harry is constantly surrounded by our protection. Lily is protecting him too. You have talked to her and you will be talking to her again, she is always with her son and has powerful ways to protect him. We know that you have taken extraordinary measures to protect him too, and that is good. With this many people watching over him you son will come through this all right."

"After his parents died everyone who knew of the prophecy thought that Harry would have to fight Voldermort. We knew that this would not happen; however, he still needs to be trained in defensive magic because evil people will always be part of your world and because people are convinced that he defeated Voldermort, Harry will be a target."

Severus thought for several moments before he answered. "I don't want my son to be a target, or a saviour; I want him to be a child. Having Harry in my life has been a changing point for me. I love him, more than I ever thought possible, and I'm telling you right now that if I feel he is in danger because of who he is then he and I will both disappear and I'll change both of our names. I will not lose him, I could not bear life without him."

"We understand your feelings, Severus," Fate replied, "and we agree that you should do whatever is needed to protect Harry. He is fated to become one of the most powerful Wizards ever born. The child is already showing signs of great power, as I am sure you are aware. This is why we chose you to be the one to raise him. We knew that you had the fortitude to raise him safely no matter what it required to do so."

Back at Hogwarts Dumbledore was attending an interview with the parents of a prospective student in Snape's place. The student, Erich Millhorn, was from Sweden and his family was one of the older pureblood families. The Headmaster had taken them on a tour of the school and introduced them to the teachers. They had watched the children, who were involved in their various projects, checked the cafeteria, the infirmary, and the rooms the children slept in. Back in Snape's office they sat with Dumbledore to discuss what they had seen.

"I'm not sure about this, Headmaster. The campus is beautiful and the school itself is as well. I'm not too sure about the educational methods though. My wife and I have had Erich tutored but we feel it would be to his advantage to be in a school around other children. Having said that, I must tell you that your student body is one of my concerns; I noticed several children who were obviously not purebloods, and some of different races too. You even have goblins and elves and I'm not sure that this is the environment that would most benefit my son. The teaching methods seem to be extraordinary too. How can the children learn anything when they mill about haphazardly and seem to be doing whatever they feel like doing? We will discuss this and will let you know our decision at the end of the week."

"I regret that you feel that way, Mr. Millhouse, but this is a new kind of school. The system we have been using to teach for centuries just are not going to work for these new children we are seeing today. They study things that interest them. As they interact with the other students and see what they are doing they acquire new interests and they study those too. The children are learning faster and more than any class we have had before. As to the children of other races, our Ministry has finally declared these races equal to the rest of us and the children need education just as much as the human children. The half bloods and the muggleborns have always had a place in Hogwarts, and will always continue to have a place here. I sincerely hope you decide to place young Erich here, for we have much to offer, but that is a decision you must make. Now if you will excuse me, I need to get back to my own office, I have an appointment in ten minutes."

Walking the couple to the door and bidding them farewell, Albus returned to Snape's office to floo back to his own. Before he could step into the fire though, the door opened and Stephanie stuck her head in, "Headmaster, Harry is missing! We have searched the entire building and can't find him anywhere. Right now the teachers, along with some students from the castle, are searching the grounds."

The next few minutes were tense for both the Headmaster and the Doctor. Two hours later the grounds had been combed and Hagrid had gone into the Forbidden Forest, to no avail.

Harry Potter Snape had disappeared.


	20. Chapter 19: Dobby the Protector

I still don't own anything, J

I still don't own anything, J.K. Rowling still does.

Thank you again to AngelAuthor14. Ya'll go read some of her stories, they are good.

I am so sorry it has been so long since the last update. I got really sick, and then we moved. I will try not to let it happen again.

Dobby the Protector:

Back in the Council chamber:

After discussing more plans for the new school Fate looked at the two educators and told them that it was time for them to return to Hogwarts. He did however have one more thing to tell them.

"Minerva you are going to have a very special job in the near future. I know how close you and Albus are and while I can't tell you everything, I can tell you that he is going to face a very difficult time very soon. This will be one of the most, if not the most, difficult time of his life. He will need all of his friends but most especially he will need you and your understanding. When things get rough, or times look dark, remember that things will happen as they must."

"Severus, you will need to be there for the Headmaster too. Do not doubt him, even if everything looks as if you should."

"And now farewell to you both, we will be watching and will be seeing you again soon."

Smiling at them he waved his hand and they found themselves back in Snape's office where they found chaos. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the head Auror was seated at the desk, Albus was pacing the floor, Stephanie was seated on the couch and Aurors were running in and out at breakneck speed.

"What in the world!? What is going on Albus?"

The old Headmaster looked up and said "Minerva, Severus, please be seated. I have some disturbing news for you. Harry has disappeared."

Severus turned even paler than usual and whirled around to look at Stephanie. "Is this true? How could it happen? We have wards to prevent such a thing!"

"I don't know how it could happen Severus, but we cannot find him anywhere. The Aurors have been looking for hours now and there is just no sign. No one saw anything at all, he was here and suddenly he was just gone. We've even searched the lake and the Forbidden Forest."

Kingsley spoke us, "Severus, it doesn't matter right now how it happened, we just need to find the child. Right now the Aurors are searching Hogsmeade and asking questions to see if anyone has seen anything or anyone who could explain this. Everything is being done that can be done at the moment."

"What do you mean everything is being done that can be done? Have you found my son? There has to be something else!" By this time the younger Headmaster was in tears. "I will not lose him! I cannot lose him!"

"Albus, Stephanie, what happened after I left? Was there anything out of the ordinary? There has to be something to tell us something."

"Everything was normal Severus," said Stephanie. "Except that Albus had to keep your appointment after you were called away."

Severus looked up, "what appointment? I had no appointment today. I would have made arrangements to change any appointment that I could not keep."

"It was no problem Severus, I didn't mind talking to Mr. And Mrs. Millhorn. I fear they did not like our school very much though."

"Albus, I am telling you, I have no idea what you are talking about. I had no appointment with anyone today and I have never heard of any Mr. or Mrs. Millhorn. Wait a minute, were they here before or after Harry disappeared?"

"They were here when he disappeared. I had just walked them to the front door and bidding them farewell when Stephanie came to tell me that Harry was gone," replied Dumbledore.

Severus jumped up and yelled, "DOBBY!!"

Dobby appeared and Snape asked "Dobby, do you know where Harry is?"

"Yes Master Headmaster sir, Dobby took young Master Harry away, just like you is telling me to do Master sir. You is telling Dobby to protect young Master and there was great evil here in the school, those bad people is wanting to hurt my young Master so Dobby took his young Master and hid him. "

"Where did you take him Dobby, can you go get him for me now?"

"Oh yes Master, I can get him. My young Master is safe and fine at Dobby's mother's house. He is having so much fun playing with the village children! Dobby will get him now."

Dobby disappeared and a moment later reappeared with Harry beside him.

"Daddy! Wait till I tell you! Did you know that the house elves have their very own village? It's a hidden village, and if you don't know it's there you can't even see it! It is so cool, Daddy! I want to go back and play with the elf children again, please can I?" He stopped talking then because his Dad was hugging him so hard that he could barely breathe.

"Oh thank God," breathed Severus, "I thought I had lost you and I just did not want to go on without you son. I love you and I don't ever want to lose you." By now Harry was wriggling around, trying to catch a breath so his happy Dad let him go.

While all of this had been happening another Auror had come into the office, given Shacklebolt a piece of parchment and departed.

Kingsley looked up and said, "I think I may have an idea of what happened. This just came from headquarters. We have an agent inside Vladimir's organization and he smuggled this out to us. It seems that there are agents for the Count in England and Scotland asking questions about Harry. The couple who were here today are probably two of these agents. They were undoubtedly looking for Harry. It's a good thing that Dobby took him away because now they will not be looking here for a while. Dobby certainly bought us some time."

Later that evening as Severus was getting his son ready for bed the little boy was still bubbling over with excitement.

"Daddy, can I go play with the elf children again? I had so much fun. They can talk without talking out loud just like I can and they know all kinds of magic that I've never seen before! And they have funny little houses that are so cute! Can I go again, can Jaelle go with me? She would like it a lot too, I know she would! Oh! And they have little tiny horses and little tiny cows and-"

"Whoa Harry, one thing at a time. I'm glad you had fun, and yes I will ask Dobby if he can take you back again, and yes I will ask Dr. Brown if Jaelle can go with you. But son, you must understand, Dobby took you there today to protect you. I don't know if he will be able to take you to just visit. We'll have to wait and see. I just want you to promise me not to speak to anyone that you don't know. If you see a stranger you come straight to me, or one of the teachers, or Dr. Brown. Will you promise me, Harry?"

"Course I will Daddy, I promise."

"Okay then, now it's time for you to close your eyes and go to sleep. I will see you in the morning. I love you son, goodnight."

"Night Daddy, I love you too," said the tired little boy. Closing his eyes he was asleep before Severus got to the door.

The tired Headmaster sat on the couch in the sitting room and stared at the fire. Suddenly Minerva's head appeared in the flames and asked for permission to come through. When she arrived Severus called Daisy and asked for a pot of tea and a bottle of brandy. He poured a cup of tea for Minerva and a snifter of brandy for himself. Looking up he saw Minerva looking at him significantly and with a smile asked "would you like to join me in a brandy, Minerva?"

"I thought you would never ask Headmaster," she smiled. Then looking serious she asked him, "what are we going to do about Albus? Do you think we should tell him about the conversation this afternoon?"

Severus thought for a few minutes before answering, "no I don't. There is no need to worry him and since we can't tell him anything about what is going to be happening that is all it would do. I really believe that we should just wait and watch, and when the time comes we will both be here for him."

"I know you're right," she sighed, "it's just that I'm already worried about him, Severus. Something has been on his mind for the past couple of weeks and whatever it is has him terribly distracted. You know as well as I that if he were not distracted he would have undoubtedly performed legilimens on that couple this afternoon."

"I don't believe that he is sleeping properly either, and I know he isn't eating well. Something just isn't right and I'm worried."

"Minerva, right now I don't see what we can do. Hopefully he will talk to one of us, or to someone. Lets give it a few days and if nothing changes we will go to him together and see if he will tell us anything. All right?"

Receiving a less than enthusiastic agreement from the older witch Severus wished her good night and after she left he sat back on the couch and spent another long night staring into the dancing flames in the fireplace.


	21. Chapter 20: Another Night

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the wizarding world. I just enjoy visiting it.

Special thanks to my beta reader, AngelAuthor14. Check out her stories, they are good.

Another Night in Front of the Fire:

Severus sat in his office late one afternoon deep in thought. It had been six months since Harry had disappeared and things were going well at Hogwarts. The new students were blending in nicely, both at the pre-school and the upper school.

Of course there were the everyday events that come along with children that had to be handled, but nothing out of the ordinary, with the exception of the Weasley twins. Thinking of his resident pranksters he just shook his head. No one was spared their pranks and the teachers as well as the students watched them warily. But they were good-natured and well liked, and to be honest their pranks weren't really that bad. Nothing like the pranks the Marauders had got up to years ago.

Many of the students were progressing much faster than was expected from children their age. They learned at their own pace and it was a fast one indeed. A few of them, Harry included, would be ready for their OWLs and NEWTs at least two years ahead of schedule, or maybe even earlier.

A stranger coming into the school would think that it was unusually quiet for a school, but just because the children weren't noisy did not mean that they were not communicating. They sent their thoughts to each other across the room, or even across the school.

Harry, Hermione, Jaelle, Draco, and Ron had formed a close-knit group with Neville Longbottom and young Ginny Weasley, a young witch named Luna Lovegood could also be seen with them more often than not.

Harry and Draco were still very interested in potions, and Neville often joined them in the laboratory, providing them with the plants needed to brew their potions. They read every book they could get their hands on that had to do with potions and Severus had made arrangements for them to have access to the library in the Castle for their research.

As he was getting ready to leave his office for the day Stephanie stuck her head around the door. She and Severus had started spending more time together, during school hours and after. He found that talking to her about his problems with the students helped and gradually they had started talking about more personal things. He had begun to look forward to seeing her when he got to his office in the morning and at the end of the day. Not only was she beautiful, she was intelligent and definitely had her own opinions; which she didn't hesitate to share with him. Most of the time they thought alike and both of them were enjoying the friendship.

"Sev, would you and Harry like to join Jaelle and myself for a picnic tomorrow? There is a lovely little spot close to the Forbidden Forest, on the other side of the lake. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I thought it might be good for all of us to spend the afternoon outside."

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea as long as it isn't too close to the Forest we don't want any of the creatures that live there to have us for their picnic," he smiled.

After making plans to meet the following morning Stephanie left and Severus started putting his things away for the night. As he was locking his desk the fire in the fireplace flared green and Merlin's head appeared asking permission to step through.

After taking a seat Merlin looked at him seriously and asked, "Severus, have you talked to Albus recently? Minerva is extremely worried about him and I will admit that I am somewhat puzzled by his behaviour."

"No, I've been extremely busy and haven't talked to him for a week or so. What is the problem?"

"I believe that our Headmaster has something on his mind that is troubling him. He is depressed Severus, and doesn't want to talk to anyone. He has been taking most of his meals in his quarters, and the ghosts tell me that he is spending a lot of nights up in the Astrology tower. They say he paces back and forth for hours or just leans on the tower and looks at the stars. I was hoping that maybe you could shed some light on the subject."

"I don't have any idea at all Merlin," replied the young Headmaster, "but I will see if I can talk to him. Albus is the one everyone goes to with their troubles and he always has a way to make things seem better, maybe one of us can do that for him. The last time Minerva and I appeared in front of the Council they told us that Albus had some tough times ahead of him, maybe this has something to do with that. They also said that Minerva was going to need to be strong for him. I definitely will talk to him over the weekend."

Just then Harry opened the door and came into his father's office. "Dad, I need your help. Oh, excuse me, I didn't know you were busy."

"Quite all right, young man," said Merlin with a smile. "I have a feeling I know why you need to talk to your Dad. I hope you don't mind if I stay for a few minutes?"

"No sir, I don't mind," replied Harry. He then turned to his father. "Dad, could you talk to Madame Pince for us? Draco and I really need to look at a book in the forbidden section and she won't let us."

"Harry, those books are in the forbidden section for a reason. Most of them are about the Dark Arts, you don't need to be reading them," Severus stated with a frown at the boy.

"Dad, why should the Dark Arts be forbidden? How can magic be dark anyway?"

"Because dark wizards use the Dark Arts to do bad things, Harry. They believe that bad magic will give them power and other things. Some of the spells and potions in those books are used to kill people."

"But Dad, that doesn't mean the magic is bad! If a wizard killed someone with a spell that was light magic would that mean it would make the spell bad, or the wizard who used it?"

Severus just stood looking at his son with his mouth open while Merlin chuckled, "Out of the mouths of babes."

Looking at Severus he continued, "young Harry feels the same way as I about this subject, my friend. It isn't the spell that is evil; it is the intent of the wizard using it that makes it do evil. Defence against the dark arts is taught at Hogwarts, but Severus, how can our students truly learn to defend against something that they do not understand? They should be taught more about the Dark Arts along with the Defence classes."

"Learning about the so-called dark magic is not going to make anyone turn dark. And if a witch or a wizard is going to turn dark, they will find a way to learn about it on their own. Having said that, I will be on my way. I need to let Minerva know that I have talked to you. Good night Severus, Harry." With one last wave Merlin stepped into the fireplace and was gone.

Severus looked at the boy who was looking up at him with his mother's green eyes. "Harry, let me think about this for a while and I will let you know, all right? And now, good news! You and I are going on a picnic tomorrow with Stephanie and Jaelle. Do you think you would enjoy that?"

"Yay!" Harry smiled, and excitedly asked, "could we bring Draco too, Dad? He doesn't have anyone to do things like that with him so could he please come with us? I think he would really like it."

His father laughingly agreed and the two of them headed to their quarters for the evening. After dinner the two of them sat in front of the fire. Harry was reading one of his father's books and Severus was reading a novel that had taken the Muggle world by storm. Muggle murder mysteries were his secret passion and he was careful to keep it that way.

Putting his book down he looked at his son and said, "young man, I believe it is time for you to go to bed. We need to be up early, we have a picnic to go to tomorrow."

After Harry was in his pyjamas he tucked him into bed. Smoothing his hair back Severus kissed him and told him goodnight. As he was leaving the room he heard a small voice say "Daddy, I love you."

"I love you too son, more than you will ever know." Closing the door he went back to the couch in front of the fire.

"Severus", he heard a voice and looked up to see Lily standing in front of the window. "You are doing a beautiful job with Harry, he is going to grow up to be a fine man. Don't worry about the things he reads and studies, you have grounded him well enough that you can trust him to always know right from wrong. Harry has got a pure heart and it will always lead him in the right direction."

"Lily, I just am afraid for him. The Dark Arts can be seductive, and I don't want to chance anything happening to him. I could not stand it if I lost him now, he means everything to me."

"I know Severus, but you have to trust him too you know. If you forbid him to study the things he wants to study he will only hide it from you. Harry has a thirst for knowledge that cannot be denied. Let him make his own decisions about things like this my dear friend, then he will never be afraid to come to you for guidance."

"And take good care of your relationship with Stephanie. She is a good woman and I know you care for her. You were meant to be happy Sev, and she is the one who can make you happy. She will be good for my son too. He needs a mother in his life and since I cannot be there for him I know that she will be wonderful for him, for both of you."

With those words Lily was gone. Severus was in front of the fire late that night again.


	22. Chapter 21: Light & Dark

: I don't own anything but an imagination

Thank you AngelAuthor14

The Light & the Dark

The next morning found Severus and son knocking on Stephanie's door bright and early. The door opened and Jaelle stood there wearing a pair of denim shorts and a red shirt. "Mom, they are here and we're ready to go!!"

Laughing, Stephanie called out, "Jaelle! Invite our guests in for a few minutes. I swear, you get excited and forget all about your manners." Walking into the room she gestured for Severus and Harry to take a seat. "Would you like some coffee, Severus? Harry, would you like some juice?"

"No thank you, we just came from breakfast, do you need any help with the picnic? Harry and I make a mean sandwich," grinned Severus. "Harry invited Draco to come along, I really hope you don't mind. With both of his parents gone, he doesn't really have anyone but Sirius. He needs to be with other children outside of the classroom. Sirius cares about him, and is wonderful for teaching him how to prank his peers, but warm and fuzzy he is not."

"I know, and Jaelle asked if he could come along too. I'll just collect the basket and we will pick him up on the way out of the school." So saying Stephanie returned to the kitchen and reappeared a moment later with a huge basket. She handed it to Severus and led the way out of her quarters.

Fifteen minutes later anyone looking out the window of the castle would have seen three children running along the shoreline of the lake, stopping occasionally to skip a stone across the water while two adults followed at a slower pace laughing at the antics of the kids.

"I've found the sweetest little meadow on the other side of the lake, Severus. It is surrounded by trees and is completely private. Just wait till you see it!"

Severus just smiled. He wasn't about to tell her that the little meadow had been the spot where some of the young lovers of Hogwarts had met for many years.

Reaching the spot Stephanie spread out a blanket beneath a huge tree while the children set off to explore.

The two adults sat on the blanket and watched the children play. "You know Steph, you and Jaelle have been here for quite a while now. I've enjoyed working with you more than I can tell you, but I would really like to get to know you much better outside of the school." Looking at her Severus continued, "I really never thought too much about companionship before. I was so bitter over an early disappointment that I closed myself off from almost everyone. I was absolutely the most feared Professor that Hogwarts has ever seen, by the students at least, and not a few of the other professors. I went out of my way to cultivate the image everyone had of me."

"And then, Harry came into my life. I was not at all enthused about the prospect of becoming the parent of an infant, in fact I hated the idea, especially because I had no small dislike for his father. When we went to the home of the thoroughly disgusting muggles who were supposed to be taking care of the child I saw that there was no option but to take him. Those people would have killed him within 6 months. I've never seen a child so neglected and abused. The first night in my home the young man had my heart. I feel as if I am absolutely his father in every way."

"And it shows Severus, it shows. I see the love on your face when you watch your son." Looking out over the meadow she caught her breath and exclaimed, "Severus! Look across the field at the children!"

Coming to his feet Severus looked across the green grass at the three children. They were surrounded by butterflies of every colour. He watched as Harry raised his hand a huge red, blue and gold butterfly flew to him and landed in his palm. There were butterflies in Jaelle's hair and more of them were playing with Draco.

As the two disbelieving adults watched something moved on the edge of the Dark Forest and a mother unicorn emerged with her small son following her. The two of them walked over to the children and lay down in front of them. The children were immediately on their knees petting the beautiful animals while the parents watched in amazement the unicorns and children proceeded to play.

"How could I worry about children, who are so pure of heart that the unicorns play with them, learning about the Dark Arts?" Severus asked Stephanie.

As they watched the mother unicorn stopped and tilted her head as if listening to something that only she could hear. Suddenly she whinnied sharply and she and the baby wheeled and ran off into the forest.

"What, Severus? What happened? Why did they run away like that? And look how dark the sky is getting, we need to get the kids back into the castle."

Severus looked around, and with dread he felt an awfully familiar cold in the air. "It couldn't be, they are all gone," he thought to himself, even though he knew that there was only one thing that could affect him like this, Dementors.

Running toward the three frightened children Severus called "Change into your animal forms and run to us now!"

Immediately the three changed into three young dogs and they ran towards Severus & Stephanie.

"Quickly, run to the castle. Stephanie, you take them back to the castle, while I try to hold them off."

As she was running with the three pups she met Albus and Sirius running towards them.

"Severus needs you," she cried. "He is in a small meadow on the other side of the lake!"

"I know it well," replied Sirius. "We just got word that Dementors were spotted in Hogsmeade and they were heading this way. You take the kids on to the castle and we'll go and help him."

Stephanie ran on with the transformed children and as they neared the castle she saw that the school staff were busy shepherding the students inside. Seeing Minerva she asked her to let Severus and Sirius know that she had taken the kids up to her quarters.

Once inside Stephanie told the children to change back and then took them into the kitchen to fix lunch for them. "I just want you in here with me right now," she told them. "I know you are safe, but I still want you where I can see you for a bit."

Harry and his friends were shaken up, even though they weren't too sure what was going on so he asked Stephanie what had just happened. Telling him that his Father would tell him when he returned she got the children involved in fixing sandwiches and pouring drinks to keep them occupied until Severus and Sirius returned.

When Sirius and Albus reached Severus he was holding off a dozen Dementors. Albus' eagle patronus along with a huge silver dog joined the silver snake that was already fighting the creatures off and they turned and fled.

Severus ran fingers through his hair and breathed a huge sigh. "I thought they were all gone. They were destroyed when Voldemort fell, weren't they, Albus?"

"We all thought so, but we were mistaken. I need to call a meeting of the Order immediately. I will explain it to everyone then. In the meantime why don't you two go check on your sons and Dr. Brown. Be at headquarters in one hour. Severus, bring Stephanie if she would like to come along. We are going to need all of the help we can get."

A little over an hour later 20 members of the Order of the Phoenix were gathered at 12 Grimmauld Place for the first time in several years. Albus stood to call the meeting to order.

"I am happy to see that so many of you have responded to my call although I hoped to never have to call you to meet again. This afternoon Dementors attacked Hogwarts. We are not sure how this happened as we all were sure that they were gone with the demise of Voldemort. Unfortunately there is more. Earlier this afternoon we heard from the agent we have inside Count Vladimir's organization. It seems that the Count has taken up residence in Riddle Manor. It seems that he is bringing his war to England. I fear that there will be many more meetings for us in the very near future. We have taken steps to find out more and there will be another meeting tomorrow evening. Please be here and bring any of the old members that you can get in touch with. I should have much more to tell you then. In the meantime, go about your business as usual but please…be very careful."


	23. Chapter 22: Sirius Gets Serious

I don't own anything that has to do with HP's world, J.K. Rowling does, lucky woman.

Thanks to my wonderful Beta Reader, AngelAuthor14

Sirius Gets Serious

Severus and Stephanie stayed after the meeting to talk to the Headmaster a little more. Remus, Sirius, and Molly joined them. Author was now the Minister of Magic and thought it would be inappropriate to remain an active member of the Order. He knew that Molly would keep him informed of the happenings.

Albus inquired about Harry, Jaelle, and Draco and was told that they were safe in Snape's quarters with Dobby and Daisy. Severus explained that he had given the two elves the day off and that they had been in their home in the Elven Village when the Dementers made their appearance.

Albus peered at him over his spectacles and asked, "Did the children realize what the Dementers were and why you instructed them to change forms Severus?"

"No they didn't, although I have no doubt they will have raided my library and will know all about Dementers before we return home. I have never read about escaping them by changing into dog form however; luckily Sirius told me about changing into his dog form to avoid being affected by them while he was escaping from prison."

"Thank Merlin you remembered that bit," Sirius said. "This whole thing is unbelievable! Voldemort is gone, why do we still have Dementers?"

Dumbledore's eyes, twinkle sadly missing, gazed at them. "We are not sure as yet, but I hope to have answers by tomorrow evening. Until then we will have Aurors patrolling the grounds of the school. For right now all trips to Hogsmeade will have to suspended too, I know the students will be upset about that since they have a Hogsmeade day coming up this weekend, but there is nothing to be done about it."

"Stephanie how would you feel about joining the Order?" he continued looking at the beautiful young doctor. "I know you are a very talented witch, as well as an outstanding doctor. Will you think about it and let me know?"

"No Headmaster, I don't need to think about it. I would be proud to join your group. I will help in any way I can."

Sirius joined the couple as they flooed back to the school and went up to Severus's quarters. Once inside they found that Dobby had transfigured the desk in Harry's room into a set of bunk beds and all three of the children were sound asleep.

"Thank you Dobby," said the grateful Headmaster, "would you please bring some cheese and crackers and wine into the sitting room? Stephanie, Sirius, will you join me in a glass of wine before we call it a night?"

After Dobby served the wine and snack the three sat in front of the fire.

"You know, I have been taking care of Draco since he lost his parents. I have never wished for children, never thought I could be a good father. I certainly have no wish to settle down with one woman in wedded bliss, but still…. When I heard that Dementers were coming and realized that Draco was out there…………….."

With that much said Sirius had to pause to wipe his eyes. "Well, I realized just how much that small boy has come to mean to me. I love him, so much. Severus I want to adopt him. I don't want to be his guardian anymore, I want to be his father."

"I cannot think of anything in the world that would be better for Draco. I also can think of nothing that would be better for you Sirius. You've been alone a good part of your life. Before Harry I wouldn't have understood why this is important to you; however, since he has come into my life I understand perfectly. There is nothing in this world or the next that I would not do for my son. I was a loner too as you well know. If I thought for one minute that I would have to give Harry up and be a loner again I would absolutely be ready to give up on this life."

Stephanie finally spoke up, "I agree with Severus. This would be so good for Draco. I've observed him in the school and have had several sessions with him. Draco is an extremely intelligent young man but he has no real sense of security, of being grounded if you will. He is aware that you are his guardian Sirius, but he doesn't feel as if he belongs to anyone. He needs to be loved, and to know that he is loved, that he belongs. I really believe that this would help him so much and I encourage you to do it soon."

With this Sirius stood up. "I'm going to go to my quarters now and get some sleep. First thing in the morning I intend to go to the Ministry to apply for the adoption. Hopefully it won't take too long, Draco has a birthday next week and I would love to surprise him with this. I will see you two tomorrow at the meeting, if not before."

After Sirius left Severus poured more wine for himself and for Stephanie. He looked at her and smiled, "this has been quite a day hasn't it?"

Stephanie laughed and agreed, "It has been that. Those Dementers are terrifying. I'm so glad that you got the kids out of there, and that you knew how to drive them away. And I can't believe that the Headmaster actually asked me to join the famous Order of the Phoenix! Do you think there is any possibility that Voldemort has returned again?"

"I'm not sure," frowned Severus. "He has done it before, but this time it was different. I don't believe he could have come back without his magic. Maybe Albus will be able to tell us more tomorrow at the meeting."

"I sure hope so. You know Severus; before those creatures invaded the meadow I was really enjoying myself. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the unicorn and her baby approaching the children."

"The unicorns adopted Harry when he was a small child. Hagrid took him into the Forbidden Forest and lost track of him for a few moments. He found him playing with baby unicorns while the parents watched. I almost had a heart attack when I heard about it! I threatened poor Hagrid with his life if he ever took the child into the forest again. Of course he has, many times with my permission, but at that moment I was ready to hex him into oblivion," Severus laughed at the memory.

Gazing down at her Severus continued, "Stephanie, I was enjoying myself too. I always enjoy myself when I am around you, and most of the time I find that I am either remembering the last time we were together or I am looking forward to the next time I will be seeing you."

Blushing slightly the dark haired beauty smiled up at him, "I find myself doing the same thing Severus. With you I mean," she laughed.

Encouraged, Severus sat beside her and took her hand. "Would you be willing to go out with an old potions master like me?" he asked. "We could go to London to dinner tomorrow evening before the meeting. I know a very nice muggle restaurant and I promise not to embarrass you."

After receiving her yes Severus leaned over and kissed her softly.

Stephanie returned the kiss and then sighed. "I really need to go to my own quarters and try to get some rest Sev. I have a lot of things to think about. I'll just go get Jaelle and be on my way."

"Leave her here, she is asleep. I will return her to you first thing in the morning. Now I will walk you to your quarters to make sure you get there all right."

So the Headmaster of the pre-school walked Dr. Brown to her quarter where he kissed her good night. No one would have recognized the somber Snape as he smiled and laughed on his way back to his own quarters. And absolutely no one had ever seen him with a spring in his step!!


	24. Chapter 23: A Few Answers

My thanks go J.K. Rowling for creating the wonderful world of Harry Potter

Special thanks go to my great beta reader, AngelAuthor14

A Few Answers

Early the next afternoon Severus was summoned to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore greeted him with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes (how Severus missed the famous twinkle in those blue eyes) and the offer of a lemon drop. For the first time since he had known the older Headmaster the younger man accepted the sweet treat. This startled the poor old man so much that he almost dropped the jar he was extending.

"Severus, it takes much to surprise me, but you just managed to do so. But lemon drops are not the reason I called you here."

"I have disturbing news and I wished to discuss it with you before the meeting this evening. As you are aware, we have a spy with Vladimir. He is deep undercover, much as you were with Voldemort, and is in extreme danger. I have do doubt that he would be killed if discovered and that it would be a gruesome death."

"No one is aware of the spy's identity with the exception of myself and Author Weasley. However we need your help. This man has got to have a job. Of course he is on payroll but Vladimir is beginning to wonder how he is surviving, as his pureblood family has disowned him. I would like for you to give him a teaching position Severus which of course makes in necessary for you to know his identity.

"I could give him a teaching position without a problem. As a matter of fact, I have been intending to talk to you about hiring three more teachers. The pre-school is growing and it is beginning be too much for the original staff to handle. Is this man qualified to teach these children? Does he understand that this is a different kind of teaching? One with almost no structured classrooms or syllabus?"

"Oh yes, we have discussed it at length. He has been aware of and very interested in the pre-school from the beginning. Our man is Rogerius Prewett, Molly Weasley's only surviving brother. Most people think him dead because he "disappeared" years ago. Molly is aware of the fact that he isn't deceased but hasn't spoken to him in years."

"You see, Roger was never a death eater, could not stand Voldemort as a matter of fact; however he had a strong attraction to the Dark Arts. People believed that this made him dark, but nothing could be further from the truth. Count Vladimir also believes that he is dark and knows that his pureblood family disowned him, which makes him perfect for this job."

"That would be perfect Albus. I've had a few conversations with Harry and a few of his friends. They don't understand why the Dark Arts are looked at the way they are. They say that you can kill a person, or do bad things, with light magic too. The more I listen to Harry and his friends the more I find myself seeing the logic of their argument. I could hire Prewett to teach a course on the Dark Arts."

"Wonderful," exclaimed Dumbledore. "Now I know that Molly is going to object loudly but don't worry about her, I will tell her what I can and I'm sure Author will help me calm her down."

"Now I must tell you a few things that Roger has discovered. You are going to be as surprised as I was when you learn these things. We were told that Vladimir comes from an old and influential pureblood family. That is partially true, but things are not always as they seem you know. It seems that Voldemort visited the continent about 26 years ago. While there he met Vladimir's parents and formed a rather close tie to his mother. Severus, Vladimir is Voldemort's son. He blames Harry for everything that happened to his father and that is the reason he has been looking for him."

Severus Snape, the terror of the dungeons, just sat in his chair with his mouth hanging open for a few minutes not knowing what to say. The feared potions master/headmaster was absolutely speechless. Finally he shook his head as if to clear it and said, "Please excuse my bad manners Albus, I thought I heard you say that Voldemort was Vladimir's father."

"That is exactly what I said. And knowing this tells us a little of what we are up against. If he is as powerful or as evil as his father was then we are in for a touch time my friend. We are very lucky that very few people of our world have met young Harry. If they knew what he looks like it could be dangerous for him. He will be starting school in the castle soon and before he does we need to figure out how to keep people from knowing who he is. Roger tells me that Vladimir is already planning to send some of his followers' children to Hogwarts for the express purpose of identifying your son."

"I understand Albus. I will take him first to an eye doctor and see about getting him some of those muggle contact lens. Then we will go to a plastic surgeon to see what they can do about the scar on his forehead. I'm not sure that people know about that, but there is no sense in taking any chances."

Albus agreed with Snape, "very good idea Severus. I believe we should stop calling him Harry too. His legal name is Snape but the Harry would draw unwanted attention to him. We don't want to use James either as Vladimir could know that James Potter was Harry Potter's father. How would you feel about calling him Charles which was his maternal grandfather's name?"

"I like that Albus. Charles Snape, yes that sounds good and should keep him from being noticed. And luckily his friends have learned almost as much as he has so he won't be the only one his age to be so advanced."

Just then the flames in the fireplace flared green and Author Weasley's head appeared. "Albus, are you busy? I need to step through if you can spare a moment. It's very important." The Minister of Magic looked stressed and after receiving permission he stepped into the office.

Snape stood, "I'll be on my way Albus. Author it's good to see you."

"No, no, stay if you can," the Minister replied. "You need to hear this too. Turning to Albus he said, "A small village on the coast was attacked two hours ago. There was only one woman left alive, if you could call the shape she is in being alive. She said they left her so she could give the magical world a message. She told us that they say that if we do not expel anyone not of pureblood from our society that all of us will suffer. They burned the village to the ground and killed everyone else man, woman, and child. The message said that if we do not do as they say all of England would burn. And to make matters even worse the Dark Mark was left floating above the village."

"People are going to panic when they hear that said Snape. "Is there any chance of keeping that fact from the public?"

"No, there was a reporter from the Prophet at St. Mungo's when the poor soul was brought in and she heard all about it. I imagine that a special edition will hit the streets before the day is out."

"Sit down Author, I am going to order some tea." Saying this Dumbledore summoned a house elf and as soon as he returned with a pot of tea and a plate of biscuits a cup was poured for the poor Minister. "Have you talked to the muggle Prime Minister yet Author? If you haven't I would be happy to go with you when you have to tell him about this."

"Thank you Albus, I was hoping you would go with me. I've only met the man once and I think you may be able to calm him than I could," replied Author.

"Good, I think we should go now. Severus your new teacher should be in your office in a few minutes. I told him to come at two o'clock. I will take this opportunity to explain our plan to Author. I will see you this evening at the meeting."

Severus left Dumbledore's office and headed for the pre-school. He needed to go to his office to meet his new teacher but not now. Right now the only thing he wanted was to find his son and hold him close.


	25. Chapter 24: Revelations

I do not own Harry Potter's world but I sure would love to live in it. Many thanks to AngelAuthor14, a good friend and beta

Revelations

After spending a few minutes with Harry the Headmaster of the Pre-School returned to his office. His new teacher was waiting for him in the reception area and after apologizing for keeping him waiting Severus ushered him into his private office and offered him a cup of tea. After the house elf brought their refreshments the two of them discussed the job.

Severus liked the young man immediately. Having been a undercover spy when Voldemort was in power he knew the danger Roger was in and the stress he was under. Arrangements were made for Roger to move into his quarters the next day and to start working with the children the following week.

Returning to his office Severus changed into muggle clothing (luckily he was one of the few wizards who knew how to do so appropriately), told Dobby and Daisy where he was going and went to collect Stephanie.

When the door opened in response to his knock he almost lost his breath. Stephanie was dressed in "a little black dress" with diamond stud earrings and her hair up. Severus thought her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. They took Jaelle back to his quarters and left the castle.

Walking to Hogwarts gates to apparate to the restaurant he had chosen for them Severus finally found his voice. "Stephanie, you are beautiful tonight, in fact you are breath taking."

"Thank you Sev, I was beginning to think you weren't going to speak this evening," she smiled back at him.

"I've been trying to find my voice since the minute you opened your door, but as I said, you took my breath away."

They reached the gates and because Stephanie did not know where they were going Severus put his arm around her and apparated them to a sidewalk in London right outside the door of a small Italian restaurant that he had discovered years ago.

After being seated and ordering he looked across the table at the woman who was watching him with a smile in her eyes. "I have never really had a serious relationship with a woman Stephanie," he began. "While I was still a student at Hogwarts I was deeply in love with one of the other students, but while she loved me, it was only as a dear friend. My jealousy and stupidity ruined the friendship and I have regretted in ever since."

"I was bitter and angry, jealous, and stupid. I joined the Deatheaters. The things I saw and the things I was expected to do sickened me Stephanie. I knew I had made a mistake, the biggest one of my life. I finally swallowed my pride and fear and went to Albus. I told him that I wanted to get away from the life I was living and he believed me. He hired me as Potions Master for the school. It was decided that we would let Voldemort believe I was still an enthusiastic follower. The Dark Lord thought that I was spying on the Order, when in reality I was spying for the Order. Unfortunately, everyone else thought I was following Voldemort too. I had to let them think this way because several students were children of Deatheaters. I became the most feared and disliked Professor in the school."

Stephanie reached over and put her hand on his and said "Hush Severus, you do not need to tell me all of this. I can see that this is painful for you."

"No, let me finish please. It is of utmost importance to me for you to know all of this. Because of my life style I could not consider being close to or marrying anyone because if Voldemort thought I loved someone or if I had a family they would be in terrible danger. He never hesitated to punish one of is followers by hurting the ones they loved. I could not risk that."

"Then Harry came along. He is the son of the girl I told you about. He needed me and I quickly came to love him as my own son. I quit spying, but until Voldemort was caught and no longer had any power I was afraid for him every minute."

"The point is that he is gone now and I am in love. This time it is a real love, I know now that the other was a youthful infatuation. Lily and I were friends, and as I had never had a true friend I mistook the love I had for her and she for me as the real thing. It was always and still is, a love based upon friendship. I didn't really realize this until I met you. I have been falling in love with you since the day I met you and I want nothing more than to be a part of you life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you Stephanie, will you marry me?"

Severus reached in his pocket and brought out a ring. It was gold with a huge fire opal surrounded by small but perfect diamonds. Stephanie looked at him with glowing eyes as she whispered one word, "yes."

Severus spent the rest of the evening, including the meeting, floating on the clouds. He could not believe that this beautiful creature was willing to marry him and spend her life with him!

Albus, who took one look at the two of them and knew that his friend had finally found the one, mercifully kept the meeting short. They decided to strenghten the wards at the school and wait until their agent could get more information for them before they took any action. Dumbledore decided that he could let Severus see his memories if he needed to catch up.

The next morning Severus woke Harry early. "Come on sleepy head, as soon as you have dressed and eaten your breakfast we are going on a trip!"

Harry immediately jumped out of bed and into his clothes. Over breakfast he tried to get his Dad to tell him where they were going, but all he could get out of him was a "you'll see when we get there."

Severus apparated them to a small village. Harry looked around and saw a sign that said Godric's Hollow. His father led him down a street to a cottage sitting in an overgrown lot. The cottage had been a pretty place at one time but now it looked empty and run down.

The man looked down at the child who was looking up at him.

"Daddy where are we? I think I should know but I don't, but shouldn't I?"

"Harry, you are going to be moving into the Castle when the new term begins and there are some things I need to tell you. I have not hidden anything from you if I thought you needed to know it. That being said, I have not told you things that I thought you were not ready to know."

"You know that Voldemort killed your parents and tried to kill you. This is the house you lived in with your parents. Dumbledore had you taken from here as soon as he heard what had happened. You were taken to your Aunt's house where we found you horribly neglected and abused. I was lucky enough to be able to adopt you and have always been thankful for that. Let's go find your parents graves and I will tell you the story."

The two of them explored the overgrown garden and at the back of the garden they found a huge oak tree sheltering the graves. Harry looked down at the headstones and wondered what life would have been like if they were still alive. Then he looked at the man who had loved and taken care of him and smiling up at his Dad he sat down on the grass between his parents' graves and said, "Sit here and tell me the story Daddy."

"Your father was an Auror Harry. He was young and just starting his career, but was destined to do great things. Your Mom stayed home and took care of you. She was the first and best friend I ever had. Your father tried for years to get Lily to look at him and he finally won her over. She was a firey little thing, and so beautiful Harry. You look just like James, but you have her green eyes. Those eyes could sure shoot firebolts when she was angry. It was magnificant, unless you were the one she was angry with."

Your father had many friends, but there were three special ones. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They were known as the Mauraders. Harry, those guys were amazing! They were pranksters, and most of the pranks were brilliant. I wouldn't admit that for years, I didn't like them. I hated your father for years, because Lily married him. I was so jealous. But, not too many years ago I realized that your Mom loved me, but only as a friend. She never loved anyone but your father. And after he met her he never looked at another girl. She was the one for him from the start."

"I really can't give you the details of your life with them, because your father and I were still enemies. But you can talk to Sirius or Remus. They will be happy to talk to you. They have just been waiting for the right time. There are other people who remember them and want to share memories with you. I am going to attempt to tell you the parts I know about."

"There was a prophecy, which has obviously been proven wrong, that Voldemort thought predicted that you had to kill him unless he killed you. I will be ashamed of until the day I die that I was responsible for his discovery of the existence of the prediction."

He looked down at Harry with tears in his eyes, "I can only beg your forgivness for my part in this story. When I found out what he was planning I tried to stop it, I tried to save them, but I couldn't. After your parents deaths I went to Dumbledore and starting working as an undercover agent within Voldemort's organization."

Harry thought for a few minutes then turned to Severus. "Dad you don't need my forgivness, you need your own. You didn't intend anything to happen the way it did. I know that because I know you." The boy threw his arms around the man and said "I love you. You are my Dad."

Severus swallowed hard and wiped his eyes. "After Voldemort found out about the prophecies he wanted you dead. He didn't like your parents because they were working with the Order against him."

"Your parents came here and went into hiding. Do you know what the Fidelius Charm is?" Receiving a nod from Harry he continued "Sirius was the secret keeper, but he was concerned that everyone would assume it was him and somehow torture it from him. So James and Lily made Peter the secret keeper but they told no one, not even Dumbledore or Remus."

"Peter was always a treacherous little rat in my opinion, and I'm sorry to say I was right. He saw that Voldemort was getting stronger every day and he wanted to gain favor, so he went to Voldemort and told him where the Potters were living. Voldemort waited until Halloween and attacked while your parents were alone. He killed your Dad and then followed your Mom upstairs where he had run with you. Harry, Lily's love for you is the reason the killing curse rebounded and hit him instead of killing you. Everyone thought that Sirius betrayed your parents but they were wrong. He discovered the bodies and went after Peter. He knew that he had betrayed them and he wanted to kill him. When he caught him on a crowded muggle street Peter killed twelve muggles escaping from him. The rat bit off his finger and left it on the ground when he blew up the street and he escaped into the gutter. When the ministry found Sirius there they arrested him and threw him into Azkaban without even a trial. He stayed there for years. When Voldemort was arrested the story came out and Sirius was released."

" You are the only person to have survived the killing curse. You have been kept out of the lime light all of your life. I've never taken you out into the Wizarding World because you are famous there. You are called The Boy Who Lived. Until he was defeated I did not want you outside Hogwarts. Then, when I thought it was safe a new Dark Lord arose in Europe. Unfortunately this man, Count Vladimir, is the illegitimate son of Voldemort and hates you because he believes that everything that happened to his father is your fault."

Harry thought about all of this for awhile. "Dad, am I going to have to fight this Count one day? If I am I think I should start learning how right away, don't you?"

"Oh yes son, we will be starting immediately. But in the meantime I would prefer not to advertise your presence. Vladimir has moved into his father's old home and I know that some of the children of his followers will be attending Hogwarts. Albus and I have talked about it and think it would be a good idea for you to change a little. I will take you to London and have your scar removed and get you some colored contact lens. We think you should use a new name too. What do you think about Charles Snape?"

"No, Dad. I don't want to change my appearance or my name. I have a scar and my mom's eyes and my name is Harry James Potter Snape. If I hide all of my life I will be afraid all of my life. I am really more afraid of fear than I am of Count Vladimir."

Severus hugged his son and asked if he would like to go into the house. Harry asked if they could come back and do it another day so the two of them returned home.


	26. Chapter 25: The Dinner Party

J.K. Rowling hasn't given me the rights to H.P. as yet, so I don't own anything 

Many, many thanks to AngelAuthor14, my awesome beta

The Dinner Party

The next morning Severus woke up with a smile on his face (probably for the first time in his life) and a song on his lips (definitely for the first time in his life).

After his first cup of coffee he went to the fireplace and floo-called Stephanie. When she answered her he asked if she was free for dinner that evening. She smiled and accepted at once and after talking for a few minutes he said goodbye and went into his study. After writing several notes and addressing the envelopes he called Dobby. "Would you please deliver these for me right away and wait for the answers?"

When Dobby left he picked another envelope and headed for Dumbledore's office. Climbing the steps of the circular staircase he could not erase the silly smile from his face. This was a most unusual state of affairs for Severus Snape but he found that he liked it. He knocked on the door and after hearing the invitation to enter he walked in and found himself looking at the Albus he remembered, there was a smile of the old face and the blue eyes were twinkling like stars.

"Come in, come in Severus, you are just in time for coffee. When they were seated with their coffee Snape said "you certainly look as if you feel better this morning."

"Yes," replied the elder wizard. "I know you have been worried about me and I do apologize for putting you through that, but I had very serious things on my mind. Now that they are resolved I can tell you about it."

"Please do so Albus, all of us have been extremely concerned about you," replied the younger man.

"I had a great-niece Severus. I was very close to Amy, but didn't see her frequently because of the danger to her. I arranged for her to move to Australia many years ago because I knew it would be much safer for her. She met and married a wizard over there. He was much older than her, and though he wasn't one of the followers of Voldemort, he was evil. A year ago he murdered her and disapppeared with their twin daughters. I have been trying to find them, indeed I had almost given up. I had exhausted all means, both magical and non-magical, to no avail."

"Last night I received a message from Albania. It seems that he met his end while traveling through that country, illegally, it would seem. The twins were found by an older squib couple who recognized their magic. The girls were so afraid that the ones who killed the father would come after them that they hid with the couple until a few days ago when they heard that they had a relative who was searching for them. They contacted the Albanian Ministry who in turn contacted our Ministry and the girls are on their way here as we speak!" With a satisfied smile the old Headmaster leaned back and took a sip of his tea.

"I'm so glad to hear about this Albus, but why did you not let us help you? You know anyone of us here or in the order would have wanted to help you."

"I know Severus, of course I knew that. But I did not want Count Vladimir to hear about it. He would have tried to use it to do harm to our cause. It was much better for me to handle the whole thing from behind the scenes. Now, would you like to tell me what brought you to see me this early in the morning?"

With a broad smile the younger Headmaster announced, "I asked Stephanie to marry me last night Albus and she agreed! You are the only one we are telling until this evening. We are inviting a few close friends and would be so happy for you to come."

"Of course, I'll be there with bells on. This is certainly a happy day for Hogwarts isn't it Severus," the old wizard replied with much twinkling of the eyes.

Leaving the Headmaster's office Severus returned to his quarters where he found his son at the breakfast table. After obtaining a cup of coffee from Daisy he sat down with Harry.

"Son, I have something else to talk to you about," he began. When Harry looked at him inquisitively he continued, "last night I asked Stephanie to marry me and she accepted my proposal. I intended to talk to you about this before I proposed but it just happened without my even realizing I was doing it until after it was done. I really hope that you are ok with all of this coming so soon after our talk yesterday."

Harry grinned at his Dad. "Of course I'm ok with it Dad! I've always wanted a mum, and I'm getting a really cool sister too. How could I not be ok with it?"

After Severus told Harry about the surprise at the dinner party and asked him to keep it quiet he went to find Daisy and Dobby to make plans for the dinner.

That evening saw an eclectic group of people in an elite muggle restaurant in Paris. The tall dark potion master and his son. The beautiful psychologist and her daughter. An older gentleman with a long white beard (true to his word Albus had a scarf with bells on the fringe), a small man with brown hair and a kind expression, a tall man with black hair and a devil may care attitude, an older lady with a grim expression and spectacles, and a large quiet man who was accompanied by his short, round, red-haired wife.

The group of wizards and witches actually blended in with everyone else in the muggle restaurant, thanks to Stephanie's knowledge of muggle clothing. Albus looked just a little eccentric with his purple velvet jacket with silver stars on it and his scarf with bells, but then Albus usually looked eccentric in a group of magical people too.

After everyone had a wonderful meal the waiters appeared to pour champagne for everyone, even a tiny bit for the children. Severus stood and after gaining the group's attention he smiled and said, "all of you here have shared my life, for good and bad, for the largest part that I can remember. This is one of the two most important events in that life and I want to share it with all of you. Last night Stephanie consented to become my wife."

The table went absolutely chaotic! "What? What did he say?"

"That's not our Scrouge of the Dungeons! What did you do with Severus Snape?"

"Severus, getting married? Oh my stars!"

By this time Stephanie was standing and laughing with her soon to be husband. What? Laughing with who? Snape?

After the laughing and joking and congratulations were over Dumbledore, eyes twinkling again, looked at the two children. "So Jaelle, Harry how do you feel about all of this?"

Jaelle smiled up at him and said, "I like it Sir. Now Harry is my brother and he will have to share his broom with me."

Harry grinned, "I like it too sir, cause now she has to share all of her games with me!"

After the group had returned to the castle the children were sent to bed and the adults gathered in Snape's sitting room.

Albus stood by the mantle and looked at the faces before him. "I really hate to bring up unplesant news on an evening like tonight but I fear that I must. We have heard from our agent and the information is extremely grave."

"For years there have been murmurings that before apprehension Voldemort experimented in the oldest, darkest magic. This magic is so dark that the even the darkest wizards are afraid of it. They say that Voldemort split his soul to make horcurxes. A horcrux is used to bring a soul back into a body. To make a horcrux you must murder another person. Only one wizard has been known to have attempted this spell, and while it succeeded in bringing him back from death, it also destroyed him."

He paused and looked at the group, "Voldemort is said to have made seven of them. Count Vladimir is hoping to find them. But not to bring Voldemort back to power. Vladimir wants to use these abominations to make himself immortal."

"Right now the Count does not know what was used to make them, and he certainly does not know where to look for any of them. Indeed, we cannot be sure that any even exist."

"Unfortunately this is not all. The Count for some reason has convinced himself that his father left a piece of his soul when the killing curse rebounded on him. He is convinced that Harry is a horcrux!"


	27. Chapter 26: Oh No They Didn't

Disclaimer: It still belongs to J.K. Rowling

My beta AngelAuthor14 is on a well deserved holiday. Please overlook or at least tolerate any mistakes until she is back.

Oh No They Didn't!

As you can imagine the room turned into utter chaos. Cries of " Bloody Hell Albus!, But that's impossible!, Oh no, not our Harry!" could be heard outside of the room until Albus waved his wand and performed the silencing charm.

Through all of the noise and confusion one man sat still as if turned into stone. Severus was a pale man naturally but these words made him lose all color. With the exception of his hair and his dark eyes he had the appearance of an alabastor statue. Uttering a loud expletive he stood up and swept out of the room. All he could think of was getting to Harry so he could see with his own eyes that his son was all right. Stephanie stood and looked at the remaining people, "I think we all need to retire for the night. I know Severus will want to stay with Harry."

Albus and the rest agreed; and so a group of heavy hearted witches and wizards said their good-nights and left to go to their beds.

The next morning Albus floo called Severus and asked him to come to his office. The school was at this time on the summer break but Severus and Harry were still in their quarters in the pre-school because some of thestudents were there over the holiday.

When Severus stepped out of the floo into the older Headmaster's office he was greeted by the sight of two 12 year old girls. He had to look twice because they were identical. Both were tall and slim with curly black hair and blue eyes. Albus, his eyes twinkling like stars said "Severus, I would like for you to meet my nieces Erica and Cora. They will be staying in the dormitory of the pre-school and will be starting Hogwarts with your group of young people."

Harry, who was two years younger than the girls smiled and welcomed them. "Hi, I hope you like it here. I can't wait for the Weasly twins to see you!" Of course he then had to explain who the Weasley twins were and then proceeded to tell them about some of the other students."

When his father told Harry to go ahead with the girls and to make them feel at home at the school the three of them left. They could be heard chattering all the way down the stairs outside Dumbledore's office.

"Sit Severus, let me get you some tea. We need to talk." After one of the house elves furnished them with tea and biscuits the older Headmaster looked at the younger one soberly.

"I know that you are worried about Harry, but try not to worry overmuch. We are not even sure if Voldemort made any horcurxes. Of course we certainly cannot rule it out, it would not be beyond him. We will put some of the Aurors from the Dept of Mysteries in the know about this. If anyone can determine their existence, find, and destroy it would be them."

"I would be much more worried if Voldemort were still with us, but since he isn't I don't believe horcruxes would be of much danger anymore anyway. When Voldemort's magical core died any horcruxes would have lost all power to bring him back. Voldemort is gone and I don't see any way that Vladimir could use them for the same purpose. He would have to make his own for them to work for him."

"Could he do that?" asked Severus

"I don't believe he is powerful enough to do it. He is much smarter than his father, but not nearly as powerful. Indeed I don't believe he is as powerful as Harry is going to be one day soon. The main danger facing Harry at the moment is the fact that Vladimir thinks he is a horcrux. He will do everything he can to get his hands on the boy. Is there no way you could convince Harry to let us use a glamour on him and give him another name before he start the term as a first year?"

"No Albus, he doesn't want to do that. He said that if he starts hiding and running away from things that are unplesant now he will end up doing it all of his life. He trusts us to protect him and is determined that no one is going to frighten him into living his life in fear."

While the two Headmasters were talking Harry introduced Erica and Cora to the students in the pre-school. The Weasley twins were not present when the two of them came into the room. The girls were sitting in the corner talking to Hermione, Jaelle, Ginny, Luna when Fred and George returned. Fred was carrying a plate of cakes and George had a pitcher of pumpkin juice.

Walking over to the girls the twins spotted the identical twin girls who were looking at them.

"George, do you see what I see?"

"Yes I do Fred. And where do you come from?" George asked the pretty sisters.

"We are Albus Dumbledore's nieces," replied Cora "we are going to be going to school here and living with our Uncle. You must be the Weasley twins that Harry mentioned."

"Oh our names proceed us do they? I hope you heard good things," replied Fred.

"Well ladies, we just brought some snacks from the kitchen. Would you like some of this juice? It's really special," said George.

"NO!!" screamed all four of the girls who knew the twin wizards all too well.

Unfortunately Cora and Erica were thirsty and each took a huge swallow of the juice before they heard them yell. A bright light surrounded the two girls and when it faded Cora had green hair while Erica had purple hair. This wouldn't have been so bad if not for the fact that both of them had bright blue skin.

The girls looked at each other, "Oh no they did not!" yelled Cora.

"Oh yes they did!" yelled Erica.

Both of them whirled and looked at the Weasley twins who were rolling around on the floor, holding their ribs and howling with laughter. "I guess you know that this means war!," yelled both of them.

Fred and George ran up to the boys dormitory where they were safe from the young witches' wrath while Hermione and Jaelle took Erica and Cora to the girls' dormitory where they spent the rest of the afternoon hiding.

At dinner that evening the two red-heads kept sneaking worried looks toward the two brunettes, but the two girls acted as if nothing had happened. The spell had worn off by now and things appeared to be normal.

The new term was starting in just a few days and everyone was busy getting their supplies and clothing ready. Stephanie took Erica and Cora to Diagon Alley along with Jaelle where they made a special stop by a certain shop. Fred and George were very wary of their female counterparts for a couple of days but finally relaxed. Of course this is exactly what the girls were hoping they would do.

Finally the big day came. Severus and Stephanie took their two children along with Albus's nieces to the Hogwarts Express. All four of the children were excited. Jaelle and Harry had been going to the pre-school for years but had never been allowed to ride the train on opening day. They had also never been allowed to see the sorting so they were nervous about that. The twins were excited because they had heard about Hogwarts Academy all of their lives but never thought that they would be able to attend the school, much less get to live there with the Headmaster.

Severus got everyone's luggage on the train while Stephanie got all of the children on the train. Soon the train was underway and Severus took Stephanie for a much needed drink.

Harry, Ron, and Draco were in their compartment when the door opened and Hermione, Jaelle, and the twins asked if they could join them. Soon they were joined by Ginny, Luna, and the Weasley twins.

The trolley lady stopped at their door and offered her wares. Of course all of them bought candy and munchies for the trip ahead of them.

Everyone was talking and laughing when Erica offered some of her Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans around the room. Cora at the same time offered her box of the multi-coloured beans to Fred and George. Now the boys were no longer worried about the girls, they honestly thought that the two had forgotten about the prank they had played on them. After all, a lot of things had happened since then and the girls had acted as if they hadn't thought about it anymore. BIG MISTAKE!

The two young wizards both swallowed a couple of beans and suddenly they were surrounded by a red light. When the light faded George was dressed in a pink Little Bo Peep dress with a large lacy sun hat and a sheperd's crook which was decorated with yellow ribbons while Fred had sprouted a head of curly white hair and had a white furry tail which would not seem to stop wagging. Fred took off out the door and George squealed "Oh, I have lost my sheep! I must try to find him."

The rest of the trip was spent with Fred running all over the train bleating loudly while the furry tail wagged behind him, and George chasing him crying "My little sheep! I've lost my little sheep!" Everyone on the train laughed all the way to the station where the spell finally ended.

Fred and George walked up to their friends and looked at Erica and Cora in awe. They had never thought they would meet a girl who could match them at pranking and here were two of them.

"Blimey!" said George, "I think we're in love."


	28. Chapter 27: Changes

Not mine, darn it!

Thank you AngelAuthor14. Couldn't have a better beta than you.

Changes

When the train arrived in Hogsmeade Harry and his friends made their way off to hear Hagrid calling the first years. Hurrying to join him, they were directed to boats. After everyone was settled in the boats the last leg of the journey began. Even the students who had attended the pre-school had never seen Hogwarts from the lake. It looked as magical as it really was. Harry thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. They ended up under the castle at a dock where Professor McGonagall was awaiting them.

The first years were herded into a small room where they were told to wait until called. All of them were nervous, especially some of the ones who had older siblings in the school. They had been told all sorts of horrible things about the sorting and the whispers spread all over the room. When Professor McGonagall finally appeared to take them into the great hall. Many of the children were shaking and some were on the verge of tears as they got into line and left the room.

As they marched towards the Great Hall the huge doors opened and the scared children marched into the room. Harry had seen the Great Hall before but it had never looked like this! There were five long tables. Four of the tables had students sitting around them but the one in the center was empty. There were candles floating all over the room and when he looked up at the enchanted ceiling he could see the same stars that were shining in the sky outside. Hanging on the walls were five banners but Harry wasn't sure what they represented. At the front of the room was another long table, but it was facing the room and the teachers were sitting there watching as they marched in.

Harry noticed that his father was sitting at the head table and so was Stephanie even though neither one of the them were teachers. He smiled at them and his father winked back.

When the room got quiet Headmaster Dumbledore stood and smiled out at the student body. "Before we start the sorting I need to speak to you. All of you will have noticed that there is a new table this evening. This is because a new house is joining the four existing houses. We now have the House of Phoenix and Merlin himself is to be head of house. If any of you older students would like to be resorted to see if you may be placed in the new house you are welcome to do so. Just let the head of your current house know and we will arrange it."

"I'm sure that many of you have noticed that many of the new first years are much younger than the normal first year. These children have been attending our magical pre-school and are more than ready to join us here. I believe you will find that these new students will have much to contribute to our school."

"Our curriculum will not be the same. There will be some new classes and more electives. Your schedules will no longer be handed out at breakfast as in the past. Instead each student has been assigned a student counselor. You will attend a meeting with your counselor within the next two days at which time you will go over your options and your schedule will be assigned. Dr. Stephanie Brown will be in charge of the counselors in addition to her duties in the pre-school.. These counselors, as well as your head of house, will be available to students if there are problems. Please do not hesitate to request an appointment if you need to talk to your counselor at any time."

"There will also be changes in our Quidditch teams. The new house will not, at this moment, have a team but all of our house teams will have four substitute players from now on. The age limit for Quidditch has been lifted so you may also get new players from the first years. You older students have seen the team from the pre-school play and you know that they have some outstanding players. Also, if a student does not make the team from their own House, they are now allowed to try out for a team from one of the other Houses. We have been talking about House unity for years and we feel that this will help us to achieve this goal." With a glance at the Slytherin table he continued "I will be very disappointed to see a House with every member of their team from their House."

"Now we will continue the sorting. I believe our friend the Sorting Hat is going to forgo the customary song this year as he has not been able to devote enough time to composing one, with all the preparation of the Phoenix House he has done."

With this Professor McGonagall walked over to a stool upon which rested a decrepit looking hat with a rip in the crown. As she called the names of the new students one by one they approached the stool, took a seat, and had the hat placed upon their head. All of the pre-school students were placed into the Phoenix House with the exception of one of the young house-elves who went to Hufflepuff and one of the Goblin boys who went into Slytherin, much to the dismay of some of the pure bloods in that House.

Cora and Erica were also placed into Phoenix House, much to the joy of Fred and George Weasley.

The Phoenix students followed Merlin to a long forgotten corridor on the fourth floor and stopped before a painting of Excalibur, the sword of Arthur. Merlin spoke the pass word, Lancelot, and the painting swung out, revealing a large opening. Entering, they found themselves in a common room that took everyone's breath. It was decorated in shades of blue and cream. There were large couches and overstuffed chairs and had a huge fireplace which took up a whole wall. There was a dark indigo carpet on the floor. Opening off of the common room was another room which was as large as most public libraries. There were shelves full of books on every subject imaginable and study tables as well as groups of comfortable looking chairs for studying and discussion.

Another room off of the common room was filled with gym equipment and had a shower area for both the boys and one for the girls. It also had a large heated swimming pool for the ones who wanted to swim laps.

Upstairs were the dormitories, boys on one side of the common room and girls on the other. Unlike other Heads of Houses Merlin's quarters were on the floor above the dormitories. Of course his quarters were private but he assured them that he would be available for them when he was needed. They were welcome to knock on his door at any time.

After the events of the day all of the children were tired, so they made their way up to their respective dormitories and most of them went straight to bed.

Harry went to sleep thinking about the adventures he was sure he was going to have in the years ahead here in this beautiful school and in this really cool House.


	29. Chapter 28: An Apology

Apology

I owe all of my readers an apology. I am so sorry that I have been so long updating my story.

In December we came from Georgia to Pennsylvania because my husband's Mother had cancer and it had spread from her lungs to her brain. She had been given from 4 months to a year to live. We took care of her until she passed away a few weeks ago.

After coming up here we decided to lease an apartment and remain here. He has relatives right here and I have relatives elsewhere in the state whom I have not seen for 20 years at least.

Finally things have calmed down and I promise you I will update very soon.

Again, please accept my apology.


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